OT: Meeting GRRM and the TV cast in Belfast
Well, that was a fun few days. This was GRRM and some of the castmembers at the signing in Easons in Belfast on Tuesday:
From left to right that's Ron Donachie (Ser Rodrik Cassel), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Richard Madden (Robb Stark), with GRRM seated. More photos of the signing and the evening party can be found here.
The signing was packed. Someone at the bookstore said they weren't expecting too many people and for it not to take too long. My estimate was well upwards of 100 people showed up and it took well over an hour to clear the queue. GRRM introduced himself and Matt Hughes, who wrote an excellent story in Songs of the Dying Earth, and they mostly signed copies of that book, although many copies of ASoIaF were also presented for signing. George also introduced the castmembers who had arrived: all of the above plus Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane) who was on his way to the studio so could only stay for a few minutes.
GRRM took great delight in telling everyone that Richard Madden (Robb) had just won the 'Best-Dressed Man in Scotland' competition, whilst Alfie Allen (Theon) jumped the queue to get his own copies of the books signed.
As for the castmembers, Richard had read all of Book 1 but no further (though he knows his character's eventual fate); Kit Harington (Jon) had reached Book 4 and was happy with all the stuff Jon gets to do in the third book; Maisie Williams (Arya) and Sophie Turner (Sansa) had not read the books at all but were being fed edited highlights by their mothers; Alfie Allen had reached Book 2 and was happy to see Theon become a much bigger character; and Ron Donachie (Rodrik Cassel) had 'devoured' all four books in just a few days and was now bugging George by asking when the fifth book is out.
Everyone was brilliant. The actors weren't behind a desk, they just milled around in the back corner of the store, chatting to fans, signing books and posing for pictures. They were all really relaxed. I get the impression Alfie was very happy to be talking about himself and his job rather than fielding tedious journalist questions about his celebrity dad/girlfriend/sister. He told me he liked boats and was looking forward to those parts in Book/Season 2. I'd previously been skeptical over his casting as he doesn't look anything at all like I'd imagined Theon, but his attitude and good humour won me over. I think he'll be great. He and Richard Madden had a great double-act going which seemed appropriate given their characters are best friends.
If GoT goes to series, Richard Madden is going to be its biggest break-out star, I think I can comfortably predict. I can see the fansites going up already. He was tremendously outgoing, tried to make sure he had a word with every fan who stopped by, joked around with 'his little sisters' and so on. All my female friends seemed very taken with him (at least there was much giggling and requests for photos with him). He seemed convincing as Sean Bean's son and I think he's going to be a great Robb Stark.
Kit Harington was quite quiet and subdued, as he'd just come off three 17-hour days in a row. He was shattered, but posed for pics, talked to the fans and was happy to talk about the filming of the scenes with the direwolf pups, which were apparently very small and cute. The girls hadn't acted with them (no scenes of them and their pups in the pilot) but were looking forward to it in the series.
Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams were awesome. They were very convincing as sisters and both seemed to embody their characters: Sophie was doing great PR work, talking to fans, signing yet more books and being as diplomatic and friendly as Sansa is in the books, whilst Maisie seemed to take great delight in tormenting the boys (Alfie in particular). She turned very serious when discussing her character and interestingly said to another fan that whilst Sansa cried on the outside a lot in the first book, she thought Arya did her crying on the inside, which was a very astute observation (especially as she only had limited info to go on: the girls' mums thought the books a little too adult for them to read in full just yet). She also did a "Stick them with the pointy end!" for another fan, which was excellent.
Ron Donachie was very laidback and professional, full of excellent actors' stories, including some about filming Titanic with James Cameron which were very funny, such as one time where the cameramen thought they didn't have the right lighting to film a scene in the water, so Cameron got annoyed, grabbed a handheld and just waded out to do it himself. I was going to ask him about his recent appearance on Doctor Who, but erm, forgot. He was the most experienced actor present and I thought would be more reserved, but seemed to enjoy the experience of meeting the fans very much. He thought the books were excellent and wanted the chance to tell Rodrik's full story across the first two books/seasons.
GRRM himself was his normal friendly self, signing the books people brought in, assuring them that ADWD is looking good at the moment (more than that in another post) and so on.
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Re: OT: Meeting GRRM and the TV cast in Belfast
ing touch me?! (South Park)
Originally Posted by newt
