I'm so happy!!!

Excellent choices, can't wait for the next cast announcements. It shouldn't be too long !

As I said over on the Westeros forum, it's got to be a promising sign that the first confirmed actor on board is almost everyone's dream casting for that particular role. I'm dying to see whether any of the other casting hopes that people have had are going to come true.

And this is just the beginning! :D

YES! there is not a better choice for tyrion!

Glorious!

!!!! :D
YAY \o/

Huge "coup" for D&D!!! If anyone has not seen "The Station Agent", I highly recommend it.

Excellent, excellent news. Dinklage is just perfect and if McCarthy's previous superb work is any indication, he'll keep the focus firmly on the characters. I couldn't be happier.

I can't believe that the favorite to play a role was actually chosen. This is awesome.

Time to go check out Tom's films.

Aside from the fact that the director isn't as prominent as I would have liked (for marketing purposes), I love both of these choices.

Btw, I called it. I knew this announcement would come down the week after Wolverine was released ;P

Nice to hear. I know it's been pretty much confirmed for ages now, but it feels so much more concrete now that a casting choice and director for the pilot has been confirmed. =)

Also, Dinklage is excellent, I'm very glad that he's playing Tyrion.

Man, I've been guessing this, pushing for this, and even expecting this - for so long that it seems absolutely surreal that its really been announced. I'm ecstatic that Dinklage will be playing Tyrion.

I hope Dinklage will talk about the role in some interview. I'd like to hear what he thinks about Tyrion and how he wants to approach the role.

They could not have chosen better. Not that there are that many possibilities, but Dinklage is a terrific actor on top of physically fitting the part, and I'm thrilled to have one of my favorite characters so perfectly cast.

I find the notion that Scott Templeton from THE WIRE is directing A GAME OF THRONES to be more than slightly surreal. But great news on McCarthy and Dinklage.

I've actually got THE STATION AGENT but never watched it. I suppose I have no excuse for not watching it now :-)

hurrah!

Yes! Now get someone like Eric Bana for Ned and I'll be happy as a clam. Like the director too The Visitor was a good flick.

I wonder if GRRM will try to time the release of ADWD with this pilot airing or filming. Seems to me HBO will be all over him to promote it to his core fan base.
Dinklage is perfect, i was hoping they would cast a normal sized person and then hobbit them like Jackson did. just looked weird in some scenes and probably would have been cheasier on a lower budge project.

meant to say ' they would not cast' not would

Dinklage is a very fine actor, after first reading the suggestion of him on Westeros I would've been pretty gutted if they'd gone with someone else for Tyrion. I sincerely doubt theyll be able to get actors of his quality in all the major roles (as there are so many of them, and some parts don't really get meaty until a couple of books in), but it's a great start nonetheless. Less enthusiastic about the director, lack of television direction is a worry, although he was pretty damn good in The Wire.

Proof that the producers then are really taking our suggestions seriously. Very good news!

I know this is unrelated but The Hollywood Reporter also reported today that Treme has been picked up for HBO. This could be a nice case study in what the timing could be like for Thrones.

An early May series pick up and the article says that HBO is looking for a fall debut. Now the production and post-production may be a bit less complicated than Thrones, but we're looking at a 4 or 5 month turn-around from pick-up to debut.

Does anyone know when the pilot was filmed to get an idea for how long it took HBO to pick it up?

BTW the picture included in this entry is Dinklage player Richard III. More can be found here:

http://www.peterdinklageonline.com/richard.html

Hopefully Tom McCarthy isn't the last connection to The Wire that we see with A Game of Thrones!

To anonymous,

The pilot for Treme was filmed over a 17 day period, and shooting ended on April 2nd. See this article for more details:

http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A54068

I am pissing myself with excitement. I have pictured Dinklage as Tyrion pretty much since I read his first scene. Everytime I would read in the books that Tyrion was blonde, I would be surprised, since Dinklage was so ingrained in my mind's eye.

Interesting choice on the director - little experience with action and epic, lots with indie and character films.

Experience with character films is a plus, for the pilot at least. There isn't much by way of action and badassery in the first few chapters, so I think the last thing we'd want is a director with a background in action, and little or no experience in drama and character-driven pieces.

The pilot is going to set up the characters for the rest of the series, so we need it to be nicely character-focused.

Awesome, both The Visitor and The Station Agent (starring Dinklage) are two of the best films I've seen in recent memory. AGOT fans should be stoked!

my faith has been restored!
-Jon

This is HUGE news! I'm so freaking excited that Drinklage is playing Tyrion. I kind of hope they DON'T make him a blonde in the pilot. I know he's supposed to be a Lannister, but as one poster said above, in my mind's eye I've always imagined Tryion looking like Drinklage when I read the books.

perfect choice on the director IMO, we all want game of thrones to be treated respectfully and get the serious treatment of past excellent shows like sopranos and the wire, and not be compared to some lower budged lord of the rings wanabee made for the cable audience. if the show gets picked up they can skip the battles for all i care (although seeing dinkalage in action at blackwater would be pretty awesome)and just focus on the court wheeling and dealing

Excellent news! Great choices for both direction and casting. Tom McCarthy was great in the last season of "The Wire", one of my all-time favourite series, while his insight and sensibility as a director, which he amply displayed in "The Visitor", will nicely shape ASOIF. The story, plot and character development are crucial for a project like this, as witnessed with other HBO projects.

I have not seen "The Station Agent", but I will most certainly now! It is good that Peter Dinklage and Tom McCarthy are linked by this movie they worked on.

Dinklage really impressed me in "Threshold", a show that was not given nearly enough time to develop and grow. But whatever I saw in the episodes that did air, and mind you this was network tv, Dinklage was awesome, while his range, originality and talent were impressive and obvious. I can't wait to see what he'll do on a premium channel like HBO, were the limitations and restrictions present on network tv, do not apply.

We'll wait and see what is to come, but it is definitely a plus to finally get some concrete news on this enterprise, which soo many fans have hoped and prayed for!

I've never posted on a board, well, anywhere. But this news is just too amazing. I know everyone is excited about Dinklage - me included - but I thought I'd add a little shout out to Tom McCarthy. I went to school with Tom and he was not only a great talent in acting, directing and writing - as his films prove - he was just the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. He deserves all the success he's had and I just couldn't be happier for him. I hope he knocks the pilot out of the park.

I've seen few roles played by Peter and I've been always amazed. Made my week :)

Anon: That is really cool. I almost wish that they could somehow bring on McCarthy in an acting capacity too. Maybe he can be cast in a role that appears in later seasons, if the series is picked up.

I think Dinklage not being blond is great. It just reinforces the fact that he's the black sheep of the Lannister family.

McCarthy as Littlefinger? He played a pretty manipulative character as Scott Templeton in The Wire.

My only question is, if HBO orders the full season, would Mcarthy stayas the director for the full run or is he more of a one-time director for the pilot. does anybody know about how directors were chosen for previous HBO shows. In other words Do directors chosen for the pilot usually remain if the show gets picked up?

You know Anonymous, McCarthy might actually make a very good Littlefinger. His character on "The Wire" has shades of that sort of scoundrel. His look could also work, too. He might not want to get tied down to such a long role, though, now that his directing career is taking off so well.

Thor, Directors on TV usually do only a few shows in a series - certainly that's the way things are done on HBO. For "The Wire" two directors did 6 episodes each (out of 60 for 5 seasons), a few others did 4 each and the rest did 2 or 3 each. This is pretty much the norm. Deadwood was the same way - I think one guy did 7 or 8 episodes of that show. I'd expect to see McCarthy doing anywhere from 2-4 episodes in the first season (4 at most, 2 or 3 far more likely), and then maybe he'd do more in future seasons if he wanted to.

Why is that? Wouldn't the producers want the show in the hands of a single director for consistency? It's always seemed strange to me that so many different directors can be involved in a series when pretty much everyone else (actors, producers, etc.) remain the same.

The main artistic control of a TV series lies in the producers and the writers. Infact, the head writer on a TV show is often called a "Supervising Producer" because as head writer he has the most control over the artistic vision of the show. Directors are, for the most part, secondary in the grand scheme of things in TV. In film the Director is auteur, on TV it's the show's creator/head writer.

Agreed with the above, but there are exceptions. Michael Rhymer was the director of the BSG pilot, but played such a key role in establishing tone and atmosphere that he was assigned all the 'big' episodes and was given a producer's credit. He also co-wrote a few episodes.

Similarly, Ed Bye is credited by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor as being the third co-creator of RED DWARF (he directed every episode apart from Seasons 5 and 6) and played a vital role in establishing the tone of the series and working with the actors to get the best performances from them. He never got a producer's credit though.

For LOST the directors are assigned to a rotating schedule and the producers try to make sure that either Jack Bender or Stephen Williams get the 'big' episodes. Notably, both of those directors are listed as co-producers on the show as well, to ensure they have more say in what's going on than a normal director.

J. Michael Straczynski on BABYLON 5 had some difficulties finding directors he could trust to get his vision on screen without deviating from the script (some directors see the script as more of a guideline and encourage actor improvisation, which on an arc-heavy show like B5 is not a good idea) and found them with Janet Greek and Michael Laurence Vejar. However, JMS was definitely in charge there and wouldn't share a producer's credit with any of the directors.

Another example of a director with a bigger stake in a show is Michael Apted who directed three or four episodes of Rome, including the pilot, and he was also granted a Producer credit as well (they maybe had to give him that to get a director of his caliber for the show).

Well let's hope that turns out to be the case with McCarthy too. Sounds like he has a knack for character development and, as anyone who's read the books knows, that's exactly what ASOIAF is all about.

Yes, Yes a thousand times, YES

Brude, that's right, although Apted then went apeshit at the BBC when they edited the first three episodes of ROME down to two and focused on the sex scenes. The venom he released on that score was pretty memorable.

OMIGOD! I'M SO HAPPY! It's like Christmas! I fell in love with Dinklage when I saw him as one of my most favorite Narnia characters of all time! He is going to be sooo awesome in this role!

Again...why do I have the Pointer Sister's singing "I'm So Excited" in my head...wait, oh yeah, WE HAVE DINKLAGE, WE HAVE DINKLAGE"....Just like a few people who have stated it before, I always pictured Tyrion as Dinklage and I have no problem with his hair being black...I agree with Anon who said that it would reinforce that he was the black sheep of the family...I wonder if Dinklage has come across this site...If he has I wish him all the best

Oh and by the way, the Pic with Dinklage as Richard III ... great :) ... helps with the visual .... can't wait to see him with his scars!!!

I'm sure most of the actors won't be picked for their hair colour. You can do plenty with wigs and coloured contact lenses. Just because Dinklage has dark hair naturally doesn't mean that they can't make him blonde in the show. And he does really need to be blonde. Lannisters are blonde. That's pretty much a major plot point.

I mean, how likely is it that they'll find a girl with the right silvery-gold hair for Dany?

Awesome! Excellent! Great news!

Hmmmmm, Amanda Peet is in McCarthy's "2012". She also happens to be married to one of the two producers. Could she be a possibility in Thrones? Or, perhaps, that's how the producers met McCarthy?

sorry, above I meant "With" McCarthy in "2012". He didn't direct that one, he acted in it only.

dinklage is the only person with the acting chops--blonde or black haired--who could pull a proper tyrion! this is such great news!

Excuse me, but Amanda Peet!??? Eh. Yuk.
No offense to her acting skills, which are pretty good though unremarkable. And knowing I am getting distracted from the big news here, I still had to protest a little here... Amanda Peet is one person who would just be utterly and downright wrong in this picture. She might be a ASOIF-fan (Hope) and I might be prejudiced in this matter. But seriously guys? Could you really picture Amanda Peet in ANY of the roles of ASOIF???
Nah.

And ABOUT the big news! YEEEY!!!!!!! Sooooooo looking forward to more casting news!!! aaah... making my day here... :D

(Should have been an *an ASOIF-fan... )

Anyway, my point with her maybe being a fan is that that would pretty much be the only reason for such a famous actor to jump on a little tiny (hmm...)fantasy project running full 7 seasons - would be for her to be a huge fan. And if so I do hope she doesn't happen to browse this commentary. :)

I wouldn't describe Amanda Peet as a famous actor ...She would be lucky to included in this epic production. Most movie fans couldn't pick her out of a lineup LOL :..

Seems the rest of the actors will likely come from the UK, according to David and Dan themselves:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=36181&view=findpost&p=1782476

Here's a rough chop I did of trumpkin aka. tyrion.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/5150/tyrionrough.jpg

Loved Dinklage in The Station Agent. I've been pulling for him to play Tyrion since the HBO project was announced. I honestly felt he was one of the few who could bring the full depth to the character. Folks talk about his look, but it's his voice that's going to be remembered. It's a tough role, but a great role. And he can definitely pull it off.

Awesome choice.....kinda of expected though,waiting with anticipation next announcements

He's perfect!

i am a huge fan iv read the series several times grrm is a very visual writer ....but for me dinklage could not be further from tyrion for me..........

Dinklage is a pretty good guy for the role but not my first choice.

Who the hell is your first choice? Very Troyer?

I watched "The station Agent" recently because of everyone talking about it and I have to say Dinklage is frak'n perfect for Tyrion.

He's a great actor and a great choice, but they are going to have to "ugly" him up quite a bit. He's supposed to be all twisted and grotesque.

Dinklage is a good actor and I suppose he would make a good Tyrion, although I feel think that if Ron Pearlman was a little person, he should have gotten the role.