Here there be spoilers!!!!
ByAdamWithers

Tyrion Lannister.

The Station Agent
Written and directed by Thomas McCarthy
USA, 2003

Watched on 28th June 2014
First viewing

I truly loved The Station Agent. I wish there were more films like it. How many films are there with a disabled central character, played by an appropriately disabled actor (the wonderful Peter Dinklage), avoiding the patronisingly “inspirational” overcoming-the-odds narrative. Finn’s achondroplastic dwarfism informs his character and the way strangers react to him – with intrigue, ridicule or pity, each one infuriating in its own way – but this is not a message film. It’s about the unlikely, sometimes strained friendships between disparate lonely people, one of whom happens to be disabled. It’s funny, melancholy, observed beautifully, and acted brilliantly by Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale.

2019:6 — I Think We’re Alone Now

(2018 - Reed Morano) ***

Team Targaryen!

Submitted by Harry Lime. Streets Ahead.

X-Men: Days of Future Past  [ 2014 ]

Dir:  Bryan Singer
DoP:  Newton Thomas Sigel

First look My Dinner with Herve

Valar dohaeris

Game of Thrones Season 4 promo – Part II of II

The pawn guy. S4E5: Mac & Charlie Die: Part 1.
Master Posts: By Episodes,By Characters

Game of Thrones is Anti-American

Game of Thrones hates America. Well, not really. But that sounds a lot more interesting than what I’m actually examining. Basically, it seems a tad odd that the Game of Thrones cast is as British as it is. For a TV series that is run by two Americans, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, and based on books by New Jersey born-and-bred George R. R. Martin, the cast is almost entirely dominated by chaps from the British Isles. And for a cast as sprawling as this one, that does seem somewhat peculiar. Here’s a breakdown of most of the show’s major players, sorted by nationality:

American

-          Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister)

-          Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo)

English

-          Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister)

-          Sean Bean (Ned Stark) *CORRECTION: The first version of this post incorrectly listed Sean Bean as Irish, as I apparently have him permanently confused with his character from Patriot Games. DVR Overflow regrets the error.

-          Maisie Williams (Arya Stark)

-          Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen)

-          Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy)

-          Kit Harrington (Jon Snow)

-          Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark)

-          Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark)

-          Jerome Flynn (Bronn)

-          Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle)

-          Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin)

-          John Bradley (Samwell Tarly)

-          Gethin Anthony (Renly Baratheon)

-          Esme Bianco (Ros)

-          Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth)

-          Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon)

-          Joe Dempsie (Gendry)

-          Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister)

-          Eugene Simon (Lancel Lannister)

-          Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen)

-          Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon)

-          Natalia Tena (Osha)

-          Nonso Anozie (Xaro Xhoan Daxos)

-          Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy)

Scottish

-          Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont)

-          Ron Donachie (Ser Rodrik Cassel)

-          Richard Madden (Robb Stark)

-          Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane)

Irish

-          Michelle Fairley (Caitlyn Stark)

-          Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish)

-          Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon)

-          Conleth Hill (Lord Varys)

-          Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth)

-          Kristian Nairn (Hodor)

Danish

-          Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)

Dutch

-          Carice Van Houten (Mellisandre)

German

-          Sibel Kekilli (Shae)

-          Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H’ghar)

Now the fact that Dinklage is the closest thing the show has to a lead actor gives the colonies a bit of extra added presence. But particularly in season 2, Westeros has been dominated by Brits, Scots and the Irish.

One would expect that they would probably make up the bulk of the cast for various reasons. Chief among them is that the bulk of the show is shot in Ireland, so the main well of local talent is of course going to hail from that side of the Atlantic. And much of the storyline is inspired by the War of the Roses, so it makes sense to give the show a British sounding flair by casting people with British sounding accents.

But it’s not like Americans can’t do British accents. Dinklage has played Tyrion Lannister with an uppercrust English accent. Granted, the accuracy of the accent sometimes comes into question, but considering Dinklage’s performance is probably the best one on the show regardless, isn’t that further evidence that Yanks can do fine on Game of Thrones?The Lord of the Rings films seemed to do fine as well, despite featuring Americans like Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Sean Astin in leading roles, as well as Austrailans like Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving and pretty much the entire population of New Zealand.

So how about opening up the casting pool a little bit, Game of Thrones? Not that you don’t have an impeccable record with casting already, but there’s no need to keep things British (and Irish) just for the sake of being British. Appease us or we will dump all your tea in Boston Harbor, then blow it up with wildfire.*

*I’m actually not that angry about this, it’s a minor quibble. But based on the epicness of the last episode, it would be really cool to re-enact the Boston Tea Party with wildfire.