GRRM dishes on casting at signing in Poland

George R. R. Martin was at a book signing in Warsaw, Poland today. WiC.net reader Black Lion took the opportunity to pry some casting info out of the Big Man. Here is his report:

Hey Winter!
I just wanted to share a quick info update I managed to squeeze from GRRM during the book signing in Warsaw, 15th June. Maybe you will see it fit for a new entry on your site, maybe you will compile it with some other news.

Mind you that the whole signing process lasted for 3 and a half an hour, so GRRM was really tired afterwards and the only thing in his mind was a good meal the owners of a bookstore were inviting him to.
Nevertheless, I did ask him a few short questions and he was kind enough to answer to all of them:

Black Lion: You are involved in the casting process for the season two of the HBO series. My first question is, whether you saw any audition tapes for a fan-favorite character, Brynden Tully (GRRM: The Blackfish, yes) as we are eagerly awaiting for him to appear on screen?
GRRM: No, I haven’t seen any of the Blackfish audition tapes yet.
Note: That means that either the Blackfish was entirely cut out from the series or they did not find an appropriate actor yet.

BL: The second thing I want to ask is whether the actress that was chosen to play Brienne or the actresses that auditioned for the role were fitting enough to the description of the character in the books? I mean, she is not a beauty?
GRRM: The actress that is cast to play Brienne is terrific. I think the fans will be very pleased with her.
Note: I think the only reason we did not get any casting clues about her is because they are currently negotiating the deal with the actress.

BL: And the last question. (GRRM was almost on his way to sit in a car) The most problematic thing for you while writing the fifth book was the infamous Mereenese knot. Do you predict that you will not encounter such a tremendous problem while writing the next two books?
GRRM: No, I predict, and I hope so, that I won’t have to cope with another problem like this in the future.
BL: Thank you very much for your patience and kind responses.

And that would be it. Sorry, folks, that I did not ask any more questions but his schedule surely called for him. The next occasion for me to ask him any questions will be this weekend in Nidzica, so write down the topics you want me to discuss with GRRM in the comments! Cheers!

Winter Is Coming: Thanks to Black Lion for the report! So it sounds like Brienne is one of those roles they are currently in negotiations for. Hopefully we will get the news soon. But the fact that no Blackfish auditions have been seen yet is worrying. I have to admit that the lack of info on the Blackfish, and any Tullys really, is troublesome. Let us hope that they haven’t been cut and they are going to be auditioning for those roles soon.

• Published on 06/15/2011 at 7:40 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 6:04 PM CDT