The boy that acted Joffrey was so good that the whole world hated him

Personally, I think Ghost was the most accurate. He was written as a good boi, he's portrayed as a good boi. Even the actor was a good boi. Perfect casting.

Nobody giving Nikolaj Coster-Waldau his due as the perfect Jaime is sad.

Sean as Ned Stark literally couldn't have been any better, he portrayed the honor and sadness so so well

Charles Dance as Tywin is just unbeatable.

Ed Sheeran was born to be Lannister Soldier #4.

Some love for Rory McCann’s portrayal of The Hound here

Game of thrones pitch meeting: “Is the character a male?” GRRM: *yes* “Does he die?” GRRM: *yes* “Aight we need Sean Bean”

Why does George always look like he’s either getting ready for or coming back from conducting a train

Pedro Pascal as Oberyn was perfect.

"I'm not nearly as witty as Tyrion... oh actually, I am as witty as Tyrion, since I come up all of his witty things!"

Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish was perfect and the guy who did Jaqen Hagar ( don’t know his name ) was also great

The fact that every comment lists a different character shows how truly great this cast really was.

Came here to heal.

Despite him being kind of creepy in the books, Ian Glen's Jorah was amazing. Him and Alfie Allen's Theon are 2 of the only characters who had satisfying arcs in the show. They did not get enough credit for their portrayals imo

I went through some of the comments and nobody mentioned Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen. He was only on for one season but he dominated every scene he was in and his death was one of the best scenes in the entire series. Honorable Mention to Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister. Without even saying a word, his facial expressions could carry a scene.

Everyone forgetting Jack Gleeson as Joffrey, he was perfect.

"The main thing is... not to rush the story." My god, when was this recorded?!?!?

Stephen Dillane as Stannis is far and wide the greatest casting of all time. Words cannot describe how magnificent he was in the role.

Lena Headey's performance added a layer of complexity and humanity to Cersei's character. It's easy for the portrayal to flop to a one-dimensional villain. But its fascinating how Lena can portray vulnerability and narcissism at the same time.

Drogon is my Personal favorite. No other dragon actor could have pulled off the emotional range or breathed fire for that long. Great Casting choice

Sean Bean was perfect for Ned Stark

Theon literally was perfect from book to show, Alfie was incredible. Bronn was also incredible, you can NEVER tell he's acting. Bronn literally feels like he'd be the same guy in real life

Alfie Allen doesn’t get enough love. He was the perfect Theon for me

I loved every word that came out of Charles Dance's mouth as Tywin

Lena Headey is absolutely outstanding as Cersei and so deserved the Emmy

Absolutely nobody could have played Old Nan better. She held together the entire show, we will never forget.

"not to rush the story" I'm looking at you Dave and Dan

Jason Momoa was perfect as Khal Drogo. Absolutely nailed it.

"Not to rush the story" guess the show writers didn't get that memo

The brick who killed Cersei. He doesn't get the apreciation he deserved for his performance.

Also, Michael McElhatton was pretty good as Roose Bolton.

I thought the kid who played the butcher's boy did an outstanding job.

Sean Bean obviously first choice for Ned lol type casting for a man's ability to die 😂

Nobody is talking about the High Sparrow Jonathan Pryce did an excellent job

Frankly the casting of basically every character was incredible. It’s one of the reasons the show did so well.

Natalie Dormer as Margaery and Diana Rigg as Olenna are the best casting choices I have ever seen

So many, but the Lannister’s killed it, in terms of accurately portraying the character Joffrey Tywin Cersei Jaime Tyrion They were some of the very best

“7 gods, 7 kingdoms, 7 books” if only the writers had listened...

"Tell the story, beginning middle and end. Not to rush the story" words of wisdom by it's creator. A near perfect fiction; tarnished by greed and impatients.

Pedro Pascal was perfect as the Red Viper!

The Actors that they Pick up for Ned Stark, Tyrion, Tywin, Cersei, Joffrey, Stannis, Jon S., Daenerys were Absolutely perfect for the character... 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Natalia Gastiain Tena as Osha, because she was the one actor to make George reconsider how he might portray the character in the books in the future. She added an extra dimension of mystery, arcane knowledge, life experience and attitude.

Drogon's casting was perfect.

Liam Cunningham is great as Davos

My favorite part about the casting of the families in this show are that each family LOOKS RELATED TO EACH OTHER! Think about it, Richard, Sophie, Maisie, Isaac and Art all look look like they could be the actual children of Sean and Michelle. Lena, Nikolaj, and Peter look like the biological children of Charles. And Emilia and Harry look like they're actual siblings. They all fit the character description and family description to for right in. Even Alfie and Pilou look like they could be real uncle and nephew. It worked so well with family continuity. No one felt like an odd one out in their family. They look related and act as so.

Mark Addy was the perfect Robert Stephen Dillane was an incredible Stannis, no one came close to him

For me Charles Dance was the best in the whole show, he was born to portray Tywin Lannister.

Liam Cunningham as Davos I thought was a perfect casting choice

Nobody's talking about Syrio Forel, the dance master, first sword of Bravos. The actor's name is Miltos Yerolemou

The fact that nobody mentioned Gwendolyn Christie as Brienne.. 😭

I couldnt imagine anyone else as Robert Baratheon than Mark Addy... Also Conleth Hill was born to play Varys like come on UPDATE: I have read the books now. Wtf were they thinking when casting Mark Addy ?! That man is a solid 5ft compared to the original Robert. The only similarities are their equal amounts of wife slapping belly-fat on them. But Conleth... is even more perfect now.

I love when he says "The main thing is to tell the story, not to rush the story" Did you hear him D&D?!

Jack Glesson as Joffery. He inhabited that role perfectly. Also it had to be Sean Bean, you can't have a character die and not have him played by Sean Bean.

As much as I love Peter Dinklage for his portrayal of tyrion lannister I'm genuinely disappointed that he didn't mention Charles Dance. Charles Dance done so well as Lord Tywin that I literally can't imagine anything else now.

Can we get some love for Alfie Allen as Theon as well , perfect

Jack Gleasons stunning performance as Joffrey Baratheon. Can’t imagine anyone playing Ramsay Bolton as well as Iwan Rheon. Catelyn Stark by Michelle Fairley was a brilliant performance. Diana Rigg captures Olenna Tyrell perfectly too.

I loved it when GRRM played an author like ten years ago.

The cast played each character incredibly good. The writing was the betrayal by season 8. D&D are the enemy of GOT.

I once heard a female youtuber call Peter Dinklage the “Brad Pitt of dwarves,” and despite being straight male, I couldn’t agree more

Don't forget they actually got Stannis to play Stannis.

I’m not sure if anyone else had a similar experience but the first time I saw Conleth Hill as Varys, I was blown away at how he almost perfectly resembled how I imagined him

I am so glad they switched out Tamzin Merchant and let Emilia Clarke play Daenerys. I just can´t imagine Tamzin instead.

I think Robb Stark is quite an underrated casting choice

Sean Bean was the first choice for Ned Stark as he was an actor with great experience of dying.

I think Charles Dance as Tywin is my personal favorite performance. He dominates every scene he appears in. I can't imagine anyone else as Tywin Lannister.

The single greatest casting of the show bar none was sean bean. The whole accents of the north came from Sean's strong sheffield accent. The thought of northerners sounding anything other than pure yorkshire just doesnt sit right.

Tywin's first scene is so good when he's butchering the deer

1- Charles Dance as Tywin 2- Sean Bean as Ned 3- Stephen Dillane as Stannis 4- Mark Addy as Robert

He may be slow with finishing his books, but George is one of the wisest spoken figures living today.

Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane was so surreal! Wished they included more scenes of him in the TV series, but whattan acting crew as a whole ! epic

Tyrion and Tywin of course.

In my opinion - Stephen Dillane WAS Stannis Baratheon, he barely even seemed like an actor at all

Every actor absolutely KILLS it. They all put so much love and hard work and I appreciate every single one for helping make the story come to life. That said, I think Maisie Williams is the perfect Arya.

Ian Glen as Jorah Mormont was one of the best in the show in my opinion

No one is talking about Lena Heady as Cersei huh....she really made her one of the best T.V villains in history

Peter dinklage hasnt done enough backflips therefore hes not book accurate lol

I have followed Diana Rigg's career from The Avengers right on through Game of Thrones. Olenna Tyrell was a fitting epitaph and I can't imagine anyone more perfectly cast as the Queen of Thorns. She and Charles Dance were the best actors on the show.

Nobody in the comments giving Rory McCann enough credit for playing The Hound.

the starbucks cup was cast perfectly. No other cup could replace it. Except for maybe a flagon.

Harry Lloyd was THE perfect cast for Viserys Targaryen.

In terms of book to tv character adaptations, Varys is terrifyingly accurate

Alfie Allen was one of the best for me. Also Natalie Dormer did an awesome job as Margaery. They were my favorites on the show together with Olenna.

Lena Headey as Cersei is best - I still don't understand why she never got an Emmy for the role.

No joke, the pressure must be insane on George for his new book. Since the last book in 2011 an entire world conquering TV show has started and finished

I always had a theory that Sam Tarly was GRRM writing himself into the books.

Alfie Allen did the best job. He was fantastic in Season 2, it's a shame he got so little to do after that.

Let's face it most of the casting is absolutely perfect. I even think the characters that were aged up great such as Dany and Jon

This interview looks like it’s being done at Dunder Mifflin.

The way Maisie Williams nailed Arya without much experience before GoT is quite remarkable.

Great interview. Normally, I don't listen to author interviews but, this one takes the cake. I always love hearing and getting into the mind of an author. George certainly did not disappoint!! Thank you for bringing us such a fabulous interview.

“Sean Bean was always our first choice” I wonder why...

Pedro Pascal is among the best casted characters.

Can we please talk about Sophie Turner and Sansa! It’s not even the embodiment it’s the freaking character development - it’s amazing

I agree with absolutely every coment on the coment section. Mostly because, except for Pedro Pascal, absolutely nobody mentioned Dorne. We don't talk about Dorne, it never happened on the TV show.

Charles Dance owned his role as Tywin. Commanded every scene. Tywin and Tyrion were the closest for me.

GRRM: I want Peter Dinklage. [show happens] GRRM: Peter Dinklage is too tall. GRRM: GRRM: But he’s perfect. God he’s just like the book fans.

One of the saddest moments for me was when my own visions of the Harry Potter characters started getting warped by the endless movies and their promotions. I just saw them very differently in my own head. Luckily over time it comes back to you as you reread the books. Same kind of back and forth happened with GOT as well.

I like how he speaks, honest, not sugar coating, frank but not offensive, and eloquently delivered..

The way he calls GOT his magnum opus is honestly badass