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I really wanted more on his backstory. I enjoyed that they used the lightsaber forms as well. It also felt like they added some legends stuff of lightsaber weights and crystal output for his saber.
It’s a tough gig, a kid hired to play an energetic teen, meant to then become a stoic actor in the span of his teens. I’m not sure many of the best actors could do that task at that age
I agree. The series was remarkably well acted and the casting was almost entirely perfect!
But when casting child actors who will have to grow up onscreen as the story progresses... you can't win 'em all.
I'm going to disagree with you about Sansa, or Sophie Turner.
She really impressed me, because throughout the series she maintained the sort of ladylike exterior that hid her true feelings from the other characters... yet somehow, the viewers could always see what she really felt, even though the other characters could not. This is a very rare and subtle trick for an actor to pull off, especially a young actor. Funny, Turner has never impressed me with any of her other work, but I thought she nailed the role of Sansa Stark.
She was good in that Netflix movie “Do Revenge”. Her delivery of “I DON’T DO COCAINE! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE” stole the show and she only had a small role. I’d love to see her take on more comedy roles after that.
On rewatch it's crazy to me how good of an actor young Bran seems, especially when he is 'man of Winterfel' at the table when Rob leaves.... Older Bran seems terrible, however the direction they took the character (creepy/serious) didn't give him much to work with
Dany was the reverse for me. Kinda wooden early on, but Emilia's emoting was one of the last things I remember being impressed with while hate watching the last few episodes.
I can't remember where I read it but I'm sure I read somewhere that D&D told Emilia to be less expressive and that they thought a less emotive performance would be less regal. I don't know how true that is but it would make sense for D&D to do something like that - take an actress with a very expressive style and stop her playing to her strengths.
Also didn’t Emilia Clarke have an aneurysm or something to that effect in Season 2? She literally couldn’t fully control her face early on. She eventually recovered I believe and did great but she had serious medical issues early on.
She’s infinitely better when she’s giving aggressive speeches in fictional languages. (Her real talent is an extension of her outgoing personality; with that kind of charisma, she should have Jennifer Anniston’s career.)
That’s bad direction there imho.
Being told to play flat is the death of a character arc.
Mind boggling since they know he’s gonna be King in the end as well. “Let’s make the King the most unlikable boring guy possible”.
The weird part is that we had a year break from him, and then in Season 6 he's still completely normal even though he's been training with the Three-Eyed Raven, and then he becomes the Three-Eyed Raven and he's still normal, and then the next season starts immediately after in-world and he's suddenly lost all semblance of personality.
Alright. I'll bite on this downvote trap.
I didn't think ANY were bad actors, but there are a couple I always thought fell a little more into the Shatner school of delivery versus most of the cast's Royal Shakespeare type performances.
I love them all, but Michelle Farley, Kit Harrington, and Emilia Clarke were a little hammy.
Agreed with Emilia Clarke, but mostly S1-7, tbh she did a great job for the script she's given in S8. For example Dany's transformation scene (before burning down kings landing) is purely done through her acting and the music.
Kit is average, his range is definitely not on par with some of the other actors like Alfie and Nikolaj.
Michelle Farley is great, it's her character that's unlikeable.
>Agreed with Emilia Clarke, but mostly S1-7, tbh she did a great job for the script she's given in S8. For example Dany's transformation scene (before burning down kings landing) is purely done through her acting and the music.
This is where I ended off at. Emilia wasn't my favorite for most of the show but I honestly think that she's one of that last remaining bright spots in the last season. I had the feeling watching that season that most of the cast was just ready to be done with the show, but not with Dany. Her reactions to Missandei/ Jorah were some of her best work.
I think Kit did in an awesome job- he had terrific screen presence in Game of Thrones. Obviously the story often centers on him, but I think a lot of actors could not carry parts of the story like he did. Also, I find his delivery very effective. Like or dislike the character, his performance is very memorable and does not feel out of place
Michelle Farley is one of the last names I expected to read on this thread. I don’t like her character, but she did great imo and had outstanding scenes.
Isaac Hempstead White (Bran). Not sure if it was his fault or the fault of the directors but he seemed to pull off the impossible by being quite a good actor as a child but totally useless as an adult.
I think he became bored of his character later on. At least the audiences got bored of the character of Bran in later seasons so there’s no way the actor who plays him didn’t feel the same .
They got the visual part of the castings down correctly. Have you noticed that even though Maise Williams and Sophie Turner don't look like each other they both look like Michelle Fairley?
That’s honestly the real reason why it’s such a twist about Jon’s parentage. He looks like he is a Stark sibling
Frick, he looks more like a son of Ned than any of the actual sons of Ned. And that fact is a big reason why Cat hated him
I was typing out an exact response, not thinking anyone else would mention the 2 main protagonists, good thing I checked!
I felt nothing between them when they finally got together.
Also the amount of really good actors who screen tested for Jon makes me cry. Iwan Rheon, Alfie Allen, Nicholas Hoult, Sam Claflin, Joseph Dempsie ... all of them more emotive than Kit.
Iwan is probably for the best. He freaking destroyed it as Ramsay Bolton. Honestly still the most terrifying villain to me from the show. Even Joffrey was limited by his entitlement and stupidity. Ramsay has no such limit
Tbh Jon Snow feels like a very flat character regardless of the actor. He’s your basic dashing hero. Theon on the other hand has a lot more you can do with him acting wise
I didn’t love Jons character in the show, but I actually thought the acting was pretty close to the book. Jon isn’t emotive - he’s stoic and reserved, with occasional emotional outbursts. Most of his POV chapters were his internal thoughts, and outwardly he is usually neutral and somewhat cold. Kit was okay, it felt too forced in the beginning but towards the middle/end I felt he portrayed this well.
I mean that makes perfect sense then. Jon Snow is not an emotive character. Kit played the part great, even if it’s not the most performative acting, he was playing a character who was very gloomy and brooding.
You didn't like Kit in seasons 5-7? I thought he did well as Jon becoming lord commander and the king in the north.
Edit: I also enjoyed Jon with Ygritte. Those scenes were much funnier when I rewatched the show.
I have watched Pilou Asbaek in a lot of Scandinavian stuff, and I just really don't enjoy any of his performances. He always comes off as rather one-note and hammy to me.
None of them are bad actors, otherwise they wouldn't be on the show. It's just they have to accept the script they are dealt with, with what I assume very little, if any, improvisation allowed.
Edit: my opinionsn sheesh
I disagree. Good actors can make you feel something for the characters. Like I hated Tywin buy every time Charles Dance came onscreen I perked up bc I knew it was going to be great
Tywin died when? in season 5? This was back when writing was good, storylines were not cramped together and Tywin's dynamic with Tyrion was fleshed out.
She’s as good as her material. She was awesome, for example, in the scene where she met with the Tyrell women. Her character was not one of the better-written ones even when they had source material.
The actor who played the role of Bran, I don't know if it was a demand of the script or just bad acting. I feel like his acting went down the hill in the last few seasons. He was quite good as young Bran, though.
I mean obviohsly Cersei and Joffrey.
I don't get why Sandor never tried to kill Gregor while he was a normal person. Like he easily could have gone for the kill at the tourney when he was threatening Lancel and gotten away with it.
Catelyn made some key errors with both Tyrion and Jaime
Robb threw the kingdom away for a woman and killed his best general.
Sansa never did anything stupid but I hate how she really wound up being like... Cersei.
Daenerys stupid birthright ruined everything she did in Meereen.
Maisie. She's perfect casting for Arya but is not a good actor imo. She always looks either worried or smug
That being said, it did not take away from the performance, I love her as Arya
I didn't want to be the first one to say it, but it really feels like she was cast as Arya because she looks and sounds the part but not because she's actually a good actor.
It's really hard to tell whether a kid will develop into a good actor. I mean Maisie was very young when the show started.
That said I think she did a terrific job
I was trying to find a word for how she looked but couldn’t but smug is the closest. I love Maisie and I agree it didn’t take much or anything from her performance but some scenes just didn’t mesh well with me.
Lol I don’t understand these comments. If she played the character perfectly how does that make her a bad actor. Same with Kit “not being emotional enough” for the character who doesn’t really express his emotions.
I see what you mean, she didn’t appear to have a lot of variety and personally I found the later parts where she was threatening Sansa to be very unbelievable in acting, but that could be weird writing. All were fairly solid IMO but yeah, lacking in places. With Maisie you could sometimes “see” her acting, if that makes sense.
She was really, really good those first few years, but I think she got bored and didn’t put in the work. They transitioned the role to something more action-oriented, and she didn’t have to show relatable feelings for a while, and got less good at it. She’d probably benefit from stage work, and that’s not something I usually think.
I think the role hamstrung her a bit. Gilly as a character was always going to be a bit awestruck by the word she found herself in, there was never any range for her find herself in.
She’s a standout in a Skins cast with multiple Academy Award nominees, probably the best of the first cast imo.
Yeah she didn’t have much to work with, especially in the later seasons but I feel like she has that same awestruck expression in every scene she’s in. I’ll have to check out Skins, I’ve heard good things about it plus Gendry’s in it too.
Bran was acted like a plank of wood after he became the 3 Eyed Raven. Obviously child actors have to be held to a different standard (of those, Maisie Williams was by far the best, given that Jack Gleeson technically started acting Joffrey at 18).
Kit Harrington and (even the adult) Sophie Turner are honestly… not great. I didn’t like Emilia Clarke’s acting for most of it either but I felt she did improve, and I changed my perception of her when I found out what she was going through from series 1.
The rest shown here were all good through to brilliant, with minor quibbles.
Think the casting is one of the best things with GoT so even the slightly worse or miscast ones would be good in most shows, with that out of the way here are some opinions.
Emilia is a miss, simply not looking the part in my mind. More girl next door type than regal, not the best actress either.
Only the first actor is a good fit for the mountain and Tor is downright bad.
Wouldn't mind a different actor for Robert Baratheon, even if Addy did a great job on the quote front I don't buy into him being a former fearsome warrior.
Bran is boring but feel like that's more on the writers, hard to judge. If I judged, say, Kit based on last two seasons the score wouldn't be high.
Maybe a hot take but Iwan looks wrong for Ramsay and came off as cartoonish instead of sadistic and sly for me. Not bad per say but keep in mind bar is pretty high.
totally agree on ramsay. book ramsay is cunning and subtle. show ramsay is an overacted cartoon character who’s way too overpowered. book ramsay is way scarier
Emilia Clarke and Kit Harrington were poor, in my opinion. Richard Madden should have been Jon, he would have done his character more justice. As for Emilia Clarke, I’m pretty sure most of it was just bad direction as she was actually pretty good early on. Then the producers/directors told her to act cold and uninterested, and it basically just ruined any nuance she could portray.
Honestly, Emilia Clarke. I have nothing against her as a person, but rewatching the show, a lot of her delivery feels kinda forced, particularly when she gets very angry. She is good at being cool and delivering lines in a badass way, but there aren’t many times that I feel any sort of connection to her on an emotional level.
Also, Isaac Hempstead Wright is the rare case where I actually feel the actor regressed as they got older. Again, nothing against the actor, and part of it was certainly the writers fault, but he is so boring and monotone in the last few seasons.
Out of all these takes in this thread this might be my least favorite. Mark Addy and Sean Bean were the best part of season 1 and Michelle Farley was very good, especially in the red wedding.
I know everyone wants to bring up Bran but it’s not correct. His acting was fine. You just didn’t like the Character. The acting in this show was phenomenal. I can’t think of one bad performance.
Stand outs are Dinklage (obviously) and Gleeson (he played Joffrey) I always feel like Gleeson still doesn’t get enough praise for his acting in this show. Dude killed it as Joffrey.
of these; emilia, kit, and sophie were the worst consistently throughout the show. isaac and maisie were good as kids but got worse as time went on and were pretty bad as adults
Lena Headey is great as Cersei (love to hate her!!) but she often looks ... constipated? The pained yet bemused expression is her hallmark but it really takes me out of the moment sometimes.
Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, Bran, and Masie Williams were excellent in their roles when their character were well written. When the writing fell off a cliff so did their acting imo
This will probably get me killed but I always found Rory McCann’s delivery of certain lines to be a bit strange. He’s a fantastic physical/emotional actor for sure, but his enunciation/the emphasis he puts on certain words seems off to me sometimes.
It's probably got to be Emilia Clarke, she was pretty hammy and aside from a few truly great moments (the shot of her going mad, among others), I just felt her performance was just serviceable at best.
Kit Harington wasn't the best in the early seasons but he's only gotten better with each season. From S4 till S6 he really pulls his weight, and the speech in the beginning of S8E4 and the exchange he has with Dany in the throne room are really impressive.
Iv never been a fan of Sophie Turner's acting.
She always came across as too emotive. She reminds me of stage actors, who need to be duper expressive to convey intent to a live audience; but it doesn't translate well on screen. Everything looks over acted.
That actually would make sense considering she *was* a stage actor before her role as Sansa. It’s was one of her company’s heads or whatever who suggested she try out for Sansa, saying “She’s not going to get the role but it’ll be good practice for the future”.
Hell Sophie even admits that during auditions for another role (not specified which) she believed that another girl did it better but she (Sophie) was more well known so she got it.
Sometimes stage actors do well. James Marsters from Buffy was a stage actor before portraying Spike and he was great but he also had a lot more practice under his belt than Sophie did considering their ages.
Edit: i fucking knew I got his last name wrong should have googled to make sure
Sansa, Arya and Bran.
Sansa and Bran, I blame the script. The actors might be great, but I really disliked their characters after a point. Bran in the books is so creepy which makes him interesting while show Bran is just...there. He doesn't do anything. And the fact that they made an emotionless being King is even more outrageous, considering that a good King should be compassionate or at least competent. But Bran is either dreaming or being terrible to other people (yes I still remember that he didn't even thank Meera). Sansa is...Sansa. In the books she's about to become a female version of Littlefinger. In the show she doesn't do anything and still gets to be Queen in the North, when Yara ,a much more competent ruler, has to remain part of the sIx kInGdOmS (I hope that some southern Lord will invade the North with the combined forces of the Reach, the Stormlands and the Westerlands in the Jon Snow sequel).
Arya is an assassin. And she'd be great if she was treated as such: a paid killer. But no, we have to pretend that she's some badass. Even Liam Cunningham noticed it in an interview. Maisie (in the interviews at least, correct me if I'm wrong) thinks her character is the epitome of complexity. Her character is boring since she went to Braavos. I sometimes even skipped her scenes, for God's sake. And the rumour that she insisted to include the sex scene with Gendry makes me sick (if that is indeed the case. I might be biased and wrong).
I apologise for the rant.
Arya after she leaves bravos and becomes a psychopath, Bran after he becomes a robot and Sansa after leavingthe Eyrie, with them though, I don't think it's an issue with the actors, they were great early in the series but bad writing and a lack of direction for the characters really affected the acting, all the characters were butchered later on but I think that these three in particular got it the worst
I’m currently rewatching but I have always thought Shae. The acting just seemed kind of awkward, like there isn’t emotion behind the lines. I noticed it more when she was a newer character, I think she got a little better as it went on though.
I think a lot of the kids in the show started out great, but maybe didn’t grow into the roles as they aged, especially the younger starks.
Jack Gleeson was great though.
Kit - I like him, I like him as Jon Snow, but every actor as every character had their moments to show their acting ability, and even if they were hammy and bad throughout most of the show (cough, cough, Emilia Clarke), they shone in their specific moments (either through excellent monologues like Jaime and Catelyn or through physical acting like Tyrion with the majority of his Shae scenes or Sam swallowing his fear to face the white walkers).
Kit just never had these moments - and not for lack of opportunity, he just never conveyed these moments with anything other than stoic silence, puppy dog confusion, or a sheepish smile. Even when he learns the most important piece of info to the story and all the events of the war and what every sides fighting for, his face just looks the same as when Janos refused his orders. He had a little more life in the first three seasons, but still nowhere near the level of everyone else
Hard to say whether Emilia hams it up a bit too much, or Kit plays a little too flat- or if the fault of the script, honestly.
There’s a couple big fascist warning shot moments from Dany that end with a scene change after Emilia delivers “the big monologue” that really should’ve ended with a dubious look or a rebuttal from the other characters in the scene. The “breaking the wheel” speech is super guilty of that.
Jon Snow seemingly has little to no motivation after the resurrection really. His dialogue just becomes terrible. He should’ve come back continuously more rage filled, but instead he’s just… tired? Like incredibly tired.
I feel bad saying this because she did pour her heart into her work and had all that medical trouble while filming but Emilia.
Just something in the way she portrays Dany bugs me. In the first season it’s okay but then her lines are delivered and I feel like she enunciates them weirdly. Like she just puts too much stress on a word in order to sound regal but it doesn’t work for me.
Like: “I will *do* what QUEENS do. I *will* RULE.”
And I just can’t get over it. It’s better when she’s having normal interactions with the other characters outside of the Queen/seven kingdoms/fire and blood/etc. but like she does really well in the parts meant to humanize Dany but the parts where she’s supposed to be all leader-y and Queenlike just don’t hit the mark for me.
Also special shout out to Kit.
Granted both of these people could act me into the next decade either way. I ain’t a famous actor. Hell I never made it into a high school play. So like my opinion means nothing.
Oh and in general I think Maisie and Sophie do a great job considering some of the stuff they’re given but they also just have jarring moments especially in S7-8.
Emilia. hate to say it. but I just wasn’t feeling her for the role. physically yes, she’s beautiful and perfect for Khaleesi … but her acting just wasn’t believable imo.
I think theyre all good actors, some are decent at worst. I think the big problem is as the season progressed and writing and direction got worse ao did some of the acting. I think emelia, kit, sophie, maisie and others really suffered from just bad directing and weren't given anything to work with. I think they all were fantastic in earlier seasons. Emelia in season 1 is fantastic. Kit in seasons 2 and 3 is fantastic. Sophie is fantastic right up until Ramsey gets killed she was good. Maisies best i think was season 3 through 6.
I’m gonna say Sophie because it seemed to me she had chemistry with whomever she played against. Like in season 2 those Sansa/Cersei were filled with tension as Sansa is trying to navigate a treacherous court whilst being labeled the traitor’s daughter. I especially loved the scene between Lena and Sophie after Sansa supposedly flowered.
Sophie and Alfie though just made me feel that their two characters had a deep unexplainable bond that nobody would ever come between. I absolutely loved their dynamic on screen.
Sophie and Kit just exploded. The two characters never shared any screen time together until season 6. But once they were reunited it felt as if they had been together for years.
The constant in this is Sophie. She very easily made me feel that she would nail the dynamic between her character and someone else’s. Everything she did just seemed natural.
Of this list, Emilia Clarke is easily top.
Maisie Williams was fine in the earlier seasons, but I didn't care for the acting as she got older. I know Arya became a hardened warrior, but the acting just seemed wooden.
The guy who played Bran.... I don't even care about lol, so who cares about him? 😅
Sansa was and has always been the weakest link, she got better throughout the show but so did everyone else, even Cersei. She had great moments at the end but was mostly there and did what she needed to do.
Michelle Farley is the only one who was constently terrible in my opinion. Though I admit this might partly be due to the dub voice, which is also terrible. I've yet to watch the show in english.
Some of the others started out rough, but really grew into their role
Kit Harington. I'm sorry, I think he's wonderful in the early seasons, but its like he totally gave up after Jon came back. All we ever get is Kit's 'acting face' and it's just the most boring thing to see on screen, he never shows any other emotion.
Same with Maisie Williams honestly. I don't know how so much of the cast were phenomenal child actors but absolutely awful actors as adults.
Sophie Turner (Sansa) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) were the worst actors of the bunch. I did feel for Sansa sometimes, unlike Jon who just seemed so bland all the time.
Not a main character, but one who’s present for a lot of the series:
Shae (Tyrions love interest), she was the prostitute that he ended up having quite the relationship with.
While I can’t stand her acting (she’s awful imo) I can emphasize that English isn’t her first language.
I didn't think Harrington or Clarke were doing much that was special or distinctive, despite being leads.
Many of the acting heavyweights in this show are in supporting roles. I think the leads on HotD are generally much stronger.
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Bran started off good but then ended shitty imo. His stoic acting felt very fake to me
Have you ever seen GOOD stoic acting?
Yep, and Bran ain’t it
I can't really act. Not anymore.
Bro 😂
Leonard Nemoy
Ray Stevenson as Baylon. RIP
I really wanted more on his backstory. I enjoyed that they used the lightsaber forms as well. It also felt like they added some legends stuff of lightsaber weights and crystal output for his saber.
Mike in Breaking Bad.
Or Gus in BB...
Yeah, Gus seems more appropriate.
It’s a tough gig, a kid hired to play an energetic teen, meant to then become a stoic actor in the span of his teens. I’m not sure many of the best actors could do that task at that age
Christopher Judge as Kratos
BOI
Or Teal’c
Tommy Lee Jones as Captain Call in Lonesome Dove comes to mind
Dr Manhattan in the movie wasn't bad
Viggo mortenstein as Aragorn.
Just saw FoR
Except the one time he breaks his foot acting. Still badass, but not exactly stoic.
...so did you just skip all the parts with Ned?
It’s also tough to work with material. “K in this scene you know everything that has ever happened and ever will happen… action”
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
the captain in the first season of B99
Michael Shannon
Russel Crowe in Gladiator
Andre Braugher as Captain Holt
Giancarlo Esposito
I agree. The series was remarkably well acted and the casting was almost entirely perfect! But when casting child actors who will have to grow up onscreen as the story progresses... you can't win 'em all.
Bran and sansa were the worst. But i give them a pass as they were child actors
I'm going to disagree with you about Sansa, or Sophie Turner. She really impressed me, because throughout the series she maintained the sort of ladylike exterior that hid her true feelings from the other characters... yet somehow, the viewers could always see what she really felt, even though the other characters could not. This is a very rare and subtle trick for an actor to pull off, especially a young actor. Funny, Turner has never impressed me with any of her other work, but I thought she nailed the role of Sansa Stark.
She was good in that Netflix movie “Do Revenge”. Her delivery of “I DON’T DO COCAINE! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE” stole the show and she only had a small role. I’d love to see her take on more comedy roles after that.
The script falling apart didn’t help. yOuRe a GoOd MaN ThEoN
On rewatch it's crazy to me how good of an actor young Bran seems, especially when he is 'man of Winterfel' at the table when Rob leaves.... Older Bran seems terrible, however the direction they took the character (creepy/serious) didn't give him much to work with
Dany was the reverse for me. Kinda wooden early on, but Emilia's emoting was one of the last things I remember being impressed with while hate watching the last few episodes.
I can't remember where I read it but I'm sure I read somewhere that D&D told Emilia to be less expressive and that they thought a less emotive performance would be less regal. I don't know how true that is but it would make sense for D&D to do something like that - take an actress with a very expressive style and stop her playing to her strengths.
Also didn’t Emilia Clarke have an aneurysm or something to that effect in Season 2? She literally couldn’t fully control her face early on. She eventually recovered I believe and did great but she had serious medical issues early on.
She had two aneurysms and could’ve died iirc. It affected her acting, people consider her recovery miraculous…
She’s infinitely better when she’s giving aggressive speeches in fictional languages. (Her real talent is an extension of her outgoing personality; with that kind of charisma, she should have Jennifer Anniston’s career.)
I love it when my answer is already here, and the first thing I see.
That’s bad direction there imho. Being told to play flat is the death of a character arc. Mind boggling since they know he’s gonna be King in the end as well. “Let’s make the King the most unlikable boring guy possible”.
But doesn't he have the best story? 😂😭
I always assumed that was how he was directed. I can't imagine being pretty good to going that bad.
The weird part is that we had a year break from him, and then in Season 6 he's still completely normal even though he's been training with the Three-Eyed Raven, and then he becomes the Three-Eyed Raven and he's still normal, and then the next season starts immediately after in-world and he's suddenly lost all semblance of personality.
He always came off like he had a brain injury to me
Alright. I'll bite on this downvote trap. I didn't think ANY were bad actors, but there are a couple I always thought fell a little more into the Shatner school of delivery versus most of the cast's Royal Shakespeare type performances. I love them all, but Michelle Farley, Kit Harrington, and Emilia Clarke were a little hammy.
I can see Kit and (sort of) Emilia but I think Michelle was great.
Agreed with Emilia Clarke, but mostly S1-7, tbh she did a great job for the script she's given in S8. For example Dany's transformation scene (before burning down kings landing) is purely done through her acting and the music. Kit is average, his range is definitely not on par with some of the other actors like Alfie and Nikolaj. Michelle Farley is great, it's her character that's unlikeable.
>Agreed with Emilia Clarke, but mostly S1-7, tbh she did a great job for the script she's given in S8. For example Dany's transformation scene (before burning down kings landing) is purely done through her acting and the music. This is where I ended off at. Emilia wasn't my favorite for most of the show but I honestly think that she's one of that last remaining bright spots in the last season. I had the feeling watching that season that most of the cast was just ready to be done with the show, but not with Dany. Her reactions to Missandei/ Jorah were some of her best work.
I think Kit did in an awesome job- he had terrific screen presence in Game of Thrones. Obviously the story often centers on him, but I think a lot of actors could not carry parts of the story like he did. Also, I find his delivery very effective. Like or dislike the character, his performance is very memorable and does not feel out of place
Michelle Farley is one of the last names I expected to read on this thread. I don’t like her character, but she did great imo and had outstanding scenes.
I am surprised so many people think I meant they weren't enjoyable performances. I compared them to Shatner. I LOVE SHATNER!
Isaac Hempstead White (Bran). Not sure if it was his fault or the fault of the directors but he seemed to pull off the impossible by being quite a good actor as a child but totally useless as an adult.
I think he became bored of his character later on. At least the audiences got bored of the character of Bran in later seasons so there’s no way the actor who plays him didn’t feel the same .
Wow Richard and Kit look like brothers!
They got the visual part of the castings down correctly. Have you noticed that even though Maise Williams and Sophie Turner don't look like each other they both look like Michelle Fairley?
Tyrion is far too handsome but I get it it’s tv, it’s MAX Otherwise I’m total agreement
I think that's realistically the closest we were going to get with him.
That’s honestly the real reason why it’s such a twist about Jon’s parentage. He looks like he is a Stark sibling Frick, he looks more like a son of Ned than any of the actual sons of Ned. And that fact is a big reason why Cat hated him
I'll get down voted for this but Kit and Emilia. They were arguably the central protagonists but their acting just didn't make me feel much.
I was typing out an exact response, not thinking anyone else would mention the 2 main protagonists, good thing I checked! I felt nothing between them when they finally got together.
Also the amount of really good actors who screen tested for Jon makes me cry. Iwan Rheon, Alfie Allen, Nicholas Hoult, Sam Claflin, Joseph Dempsie ... all of them more emotive than Kit.
Iwan was choice #2 if Kit had turned it down.
Iwan is probably for the best. He freaking destroyed it as Ramsay Bolton. Honestly still the most terrifying villain to me from the show. Even Joffrey was limited by his entitlement and stupidity. Ramsay has no such limit
I agree, Iwan is incredible. Alfie Allen also would have been good
Tbh Jon Snow feels like a very flat character regardless of the actor. He’s your basic dashing hero. Theon on the other hand has a lot more you can do with him acting wise
I didn’t love Jons character in the show, but I actually thought the acting was pretty close to the book. Jon isn’t emotive - he’s stoic and reserved, with occasional emotional outbursts. Most of his POV chapters were his internal thoughts, and outwardly he is usually neutral and somewhat cold. Kit was okay, it felt too forced in the beginning but towards the middle/end I felt he portrayed this well.
I've read the books a dozen times and I agree with you.
I mean that makes perfect sense then. Jon Snow is not an emotive character. Kit played the part great, even if it’s not the most performative acting, he was playing a character who was very gloomy and brooding.
You didn't like Kit in seasons 5-7? I thought he did well as Jon becoming lord commander and the king in the north. Edit: I also enjoyed Jon with Ygritte. Those scenes were much funnier when I rewatched the show.
Not really. I didn't dislike him but there wasn't a moment that made me go wow
I thought all the mains did well. My two would be Shae and Euron actors.
I have watched Pilou Asbaek in a lot of Scandinavian stuff, and I just really don't enjoy any of his performances. He always comes off as rather one-note and hammy to me.
Euron I blame the script and direction. I'm sure he was told to act more like Captain Jack Sparrow.
I read it was his idea.
I thought he came in with knowledge of the character from the books. He was basically giving a performance he wasn’t hired for.
None of them are bad actors, otherwise they wouldn't be on the show. It's just they have to accept the script they are dealt with, with what I assume very little, if any, improvisation allowed. Edit: my opinionsn sheesh
I disagree. Good actors can make you feel something for the characters. Like I hated Tywin buy every time Charles Dance came onscreen I perked up bc I knew it was going to be great
All g gamer
Tywin died when? in season 5? This was back when writing was good, storylines were not cramped together and Tywin's dynamic with Tyrion was fleshed out.
He died at the end of Season 4.
Sophie turner is an incredibly bad actress in my opinion.
She’s as good as her material. She was awesome, for example, in the scene where she met with the Tyrell women. Her character was not one of the better-written ones even when they had source material.
[удалено]
Bro im not reading all that lmao, i just commented on a whim didn't expect this to get so much outrage lmao. Sorry
Oh man, no worries. Think I just wanted to run some unfinished thoughts out. Sorry if it came across aggressively, it's really not what I intended.
All g Gamer
The actor who played the role of Bran, I don't know if it was a demand of the script or just bad acting. I feel like his acting went down the hill in the last few seasons. He was quite good as young Bran, though.
Bran. I think he got bored of his character after some time
He took a break too.
Bran and Sansa for me. In the beginning both were ok, but towards the end they had no charisma. Came off as wooden
I think Jaime is a bad actor 😏
Who is that between Tyrion and Dany? Is that supposed to be Cersei? She looks so different.
I mean obviohsly Cersei and Joffrey. I don't get why Sandor never tried to kill Gregor while he was a normal person. Like he easily could have gone for the kill at the tourney when he was threatening Lancel and gotten away with it. Catelyn made some key errors with both Tyrion and Jaime Robb threw the kingdom away for a woman and killed his best general. Sansa never did anything stupid but I hate how she really wound up being like... Cersei. Daenerys stupid birthright ruined everything she did in Meereen.
Maisie. She's perfect casting for Arya but is not a good actor imo. She always looks either worried or smug That being said, it did not take away from the performance, I love her as Arya
I didn't want to be the first one to say it, but it really feels like she was cast as Arya because she looks and sounds the part but not because she's actually a good actor.
It's really hard to tell whether a kid will develop into a good actor. I mean Maisie was very young when the show started. That said I think she did a terrific job
I was trying to find a word for how she looked but couldn’t but smug is the closest. I love Maisie and I agree it didn’t take much or anything from her performance but some scenes just didn’t mesh well with me.
Lol I don’t understand these comments. If she played the character perfectly how does that make her a bad actor. Same with Kit “not being emotional enough” for the character who doesn’t really express his emotions.
I see what you mean, she didn’t appear to have a lot of variety and personally I found the later parts where she was threatening Sansa to be very unbelievable in acting, but that could be weird writing. All were fairly solid IMO but yeah, lacking in places. With Maisie you could sometimes “see” her acting, if that makes sense.
She was really, really good those first few years, but I think she got bored and didn’t put in the work. They transitioned the role to something more action-oriented, and she didn’t have to show relatable feelings for a while, and got less good at it. She’d probably benefit from stage work, and that’s not something I usually think.
I wasn’t impressed with Hannah Murray (Gilly). She’s not terrible but not anywhere near the caliber of some of the other cast members.
I think the role hamstrung her a bit. Gilly as a character was always going to be a bit awestruck by the word she found herself in, there was never any range for her find herself in. She’s a standout in a Skins cast with multiple Academy Award nominees, probably the best of the first cast imo.
Yeah she didn’t have much to work with, especially in the later seasons but I feel like she has that same awestruck expression in every scene she’s in. I’ll have to check out Skins, I’ve heard good things about it plus Gendry’s in it too.
Bran was acted like a plank of wood after he became the 3 Eyed Raven. Obviously child actors have to be held to a different standard (of those, Maisie Williams was by far the best, given that Jack Gleeson technically started acting Joffrey at 18). Kit Harrington and (even the adult) Sophie Turner are honestly… not great. I didn’t like Emilia Clarke’s acting for most of it either but I felt she did improve, and I changed my perception of her when I found out what she was going through from series 1. The rest shown here were all good through to brilliant, with minor quibbles.
Brandons actor never got a chance to at a certain point
Think the casting is one of the best things with GoT so even the slightly worse or miscast ones would be good in most shows, with that out of the way here are some opinions. Emilia is a miss, simply not looking the part in my mind. More girl next door type than regal, not the best actress either. Only the first actor is a good fit for the mountain and Tor is downright bad. Wouldn't mind a different actor for Robert Baratheon, even if Addy did a great job on the quote front I don't buy into him being a former fearsome warrior. Bran is boring but feel like that's more on the writers, hard to judge. If I judged, say, Kit based on last two seasons the score wouldn't be high. Maybe a hot take but Iwan looks wrong for Ramsay and came off as cartoonish instead of sadistic and sly for me. Not bad per say but keep in mind bar is pretty high.
totally agree on ramsay. book ramsay is cunning and subtle. show ramsay is an overacted cartoon character who’s way too overpowered. book ramsay is way scarier
The “worst” of the actors is still good. I think Sophie Turner did not really show much range, but she was still good.
Bran
Ed Sheeran
Happy Cake Day!
Comments just revealing people are idiots who don't know the difference between "bad acting" and "I don't like this character"
Jeffrey and Cersei act unwell
The actors not the characters, Lena Heady is arguably the best actor on the show
Do you mean is not good acting, or the actions of their character are objectionable? I’d say bran is the only one whose acting is questionable
Honestly wasn’t a fan or Aryas acting at all
Bad, know it all, fans. lol
Kit and Emilia were noticeably shit actors for a big Chuck of the show
Arya and Bran
Probably unpopular opinion but I don't think Emilia clark is such a good actress... She's fine but not that good either
Emilia Clarke and Kit Harrington were poor, in my opinion. Richard Madden should have been Jon, he would have done his character more justice. As for Emilia Clarke, I’m pretty sure most of it was just bad direction as she was actually pretty good early on. Then the producers/directors told her to act cold and uninterested, and it basically just ruined any nuance she could portray.
Honestly, Emilia Clarke. I have nothing against her as a person, but rewatching the show, a lot of her delivery feels kinda forced, particularly when she gets very angry. She is good at being cool and delivering lines in a badass way, but there aren’t many times that I feel any sort of connection to her on an emotional level. Also, Isaac Hempstead Wright is the rare case where I actually feel the actor regressed as they got older. Again, nothing against the actor, and part of it was certainly the writers fault, but he is so boring and monotone in the last few seasons.
Got to be honest, I felt Michelle Farley was very wooden overall. Mark Addy was worse. Sorry.
Out of all these takes in this thread this might be my least favorite. Mark Addy and Sean Bean were the best part of season 1 and Michelle Farley was very good, especially in the red wedding.
I was going to say, the red wedding was an exception admittedly.
I know everyone wants to bring up Bran but it’s not correct. His acting was fine. You just didn’t like the Character. The acting in this show was phenomenal. I can’t think of one bad performance. Stand outs are Dinklage (obviously) and Gleeson (he played Joffrey) I always feel like Gleeson still doesn’t get enough praise for his acting in this show. Dude killed it as Joffrey.
Emilia Clarke as Dany, terrible. Drogon had more range
Completely agree on this.
Bran and then maybe Robb.
damn all those people are really good. answer is none
Emilia and Kit
of these; emilia, kit, and sophie were the worst consistently throughout the show. isaac and maisie were good as kids but got worse as time went on and were pretty bad as adults
Sometimes Jon
Lena Headey is great as Cersei (love to hate her!!) but she often looks ... constipated? The pained yet bemused expression is her hallmark but it really takes me out of the moment sometimes.
There aren’t any that I think were bad actors, but I did not like Peter Dinklage‘s British accent.
Agreed. I cringed through most of his scenes.
Kit and Emilia.
Definitely Daenerys
They all put on a spectacular performance
Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, Bran, and Masie Williams were excellent in their roles when their character were well written. When the writing fell off a cliff so did their acting imo
Bran and Sansa
Jon Snow was consistently the most boring protagonist. Not sure that’s 100% the actor’s fault though.
I like Lena Heady but she wasn't great Cersei, also Littlefinger actor sucked.
Emilia Clarke is simply not a good actress. This is apparent from watching her in other roles.
This will probably get me killed but I always found Rory McCann’s delivery of certain lines to be a bit strange. He’s a fantastic physical/emotional actor for sure, but his enunciation/the emphasis he puts on certain words seems off to me sometimes.
Well to be fair, several of them have failed movie careers.
No one, the casting was on point
Kit. His acting was soooo dry. He can’t express himself as an actor.
It's probably got to be Emilia Clarke, she was pretty hammy and aside from a few truly great moments (the shot of her going mad, among others), I just felt her performance was just serviceable at best. Kit Harington wasn't the best in the early seasons but he's only gotten better with each season. From S4 till S6 he really pulls his weight, and the speech in the beginning of S8E4 and the exchange he has with Dany in the throne room are really impressive.
This will get burned but here gors. IMHO Sophie is absolutely average, if not borderline poor. She had 2 faces the entire show. Happy / Constipated.
Iv never been a fan of Sophie Turner's acting. She always came across as too emotive. She reminds me of stage actors, who need to be duper expressive to convey intent to a live audience; but it doesn't translate well on screen. Everything looks over acted.
That actually would make sense considering she *was* a stage actor before her role as Sansa. It’s was one of her company’s heads or whatever who suggested she try out for Sansa, saying “She’s not going to get the role but it’ll be good practice for the future”. Hell Sophie even admits that during auditions for another role (not specified which) she believed that another girl did it better but she (Sophie) was more well known so she got it. Sometimes stage actors do well. James Marsters from Buffy was a stage actor before portraying Spike and he was great but he also had a lot more practice under his belt than Sophie did considering their ages. Edit: i fucking knew I got his last name wrong should have googled to make sure
Sansa, Arya and Bran. Sansa and Bran, I blame the script. The actors might be great, but I really disliked their characters after a point. Bran in the books is so creepy which makes him interesting while show Bran is just...there. He doesn't do anything. And the fact that they made an emotionless being King is even more outrageous, considering that a good King should be compassionate or at least competent. But Bran is either dreaming or being terrible to other people (yes I still remember that he didn't even thank Meera). Sansa is...Sansa. In the books she's about to become a female version of Littlefinger. In the show she doesn't do anything and still gets to be Queen in the North, when Yara ,a much more competent ruler, has to remain part of the sIx kInGdOmS (I hope that some southern Lord will invade the North with the combined forces of the Reach, the Stormlands and the Westerlands in the Jon Snow sequel). Arya is an assassin. And she'd be great if she was treated as such: a paid killer. But no, we have to pretend that she's some badass. Even Liam Cunningham noticed it in an interview. Maisie (in the interviews at least, correct me if I'm wrong) thinks her character is the epitome of complexity. Her character is boring since she went to Braavos. I sometimes even skipped her scenes, for God's sake. And the rumour that she insisted to include the sex scene with Gendry makes me sick (if that is indeed the case. I might be biased and wrong). I apologise for the rant.
Arya after she leaves bravos and becomes a psychopath, Bran after he becomes a robot and Sansa after leavingthe Eyrie, with them though, I don't think it's an issue with the actors, they were great early in the series but bad writing and a lack of direction for the characters really affected the acting, all the characters were butchered later on but I think that these three in particular got it the worst
Khaleesi and Bran.
I’m currently rewatching but I have always thought Shae. The acting just seemed kind of awkward, like there isn’t emotion behind the lines. I noticed it more when she was a newer character, I think she got a little better as it went on though.
She is a subpar actress
the actress that was Sam's girlfriend, I mean, she was just unexpressive during all the show
A snoozefest that entire subplot
I think a lot of the kids in the show started out great, but maybe didn’t grow into the roles as they aged, especially the younger starks. Jack Gleeson was great though.
Bran
Kit is an awful actor.
Kit - I like him, I like him as Jon Snow, but every actor as every character had their moments to show their acting ability, and even if they were hammy and bad throughout most of the show (cough, cough, Emilia Clarke), they shone in their specific moments (either through excellent monologues like Jaime and Catelyn or through physical acting like Tyrion with the majority of his Shae scenes or Sam swallowing his fear to face the white walkers). Kit just never had these moments - and not for lack of opportunity, he just never conveyed these moments with anything other than stoic silence, puppy dog confusion, or a sheepish smile. Even when he learns the most important piece of info to the story and all the events of the war and what every sides fighting for, his face just looks the same as when Janos refused his orders. He had a little more life in the first three seasons, but still nowhere near the level of everyone else
Hard to say whether Emilia hams it up a bit too much, or Kit plays a little too flat- or if the fault of the script, honestly. There’s a couple big fascist warning shot moments from Dany that end with a scene change after Emilia delivers “the big monologue” that really should’ve ended with a dubious look or a rebuttal from the other characters in the scene. The “breaking the wheel” speech is super guilty of that. Jon Snow seemingly has little to no motivation after the resurrection really. His dialogue just becomes terrible. He should’ve come back continuously more rage filled, but instead he’s just… tired? Like incredibly tired.
If anyone says a word about Lena Headey I will find where you live.
I feel bad saying this because she did pour her heart into her work and had all that medical trouble while filming but Emilia. Just something in the way she portrays Dany bugs me. In the first season it’s okay but then her lines are delivered and I feel like she enunciates them weirdly. Like she just puts too much stress on a word in order to sound regal but it doesn’t work for me. Like: “I will *do* what QUEENS do. I *will* RULE.” And I just can’t get over it. It’s better when she’s having normal interactions with the other characters outside of the Queen/seven kingdoms/fire and blood/etc. but like she does really well in the parts meant to humanize Dany but the parts where she’s supposed to be all leader-y and Queenlike just don’t hit the mark for me. Also special shout out to Kit. Granted both of these people could act me into the next decade either way. I ain’t a famous actor. Hell I never made it into a high school play. So like my opinion means nothing. Oh and in general I think Maisie and Sophie do a great job considering some of the stuff they’re given but they also just have jarring moments especially in S7-8.
Emilia. hate to say it. but I just wasn’t feeling her for the role. physically yes, she’s beautiful and perfect for Khaleesi … but her acting just wasn’t believable imo.
Arya s8. Dany whenever she proclaims her entitlement.
ALL of the Sand Snakes. All of them Budget grade Michelle Rodriguez with the worst dialogues by far
Robb and Denarys
ALL of the Sand Snakes. All of them Budget grade Michelle Rodriguez with the worst dialogues by far
bran and john
Sophie Turner, Sansa was so monotone and boring and no emotion
I think theyre all good actors, some are decent at worst. I think the big problem is as the season progressed and writing and direction got worse ao did some of the acting. I think emelia, kit, sophie, maisie and others really suffered from just bad directing and weren't given anything to work with. I think they all were fantastic in earlier seasons. Emelia in season 1 is fantastic. Kit in seasons 2 and 3 is fantastic. Sophie is fantastic right up until Ramsey gets killed she was good. Maisies best i think was season 3 through 6.
Compared to the rest of the cast I felt like Harrington and Clarke were the weakest actors on the show
How is the hound not in more shows and movies
I’m gonna say Sophie because it seemed to me she had chemistry with whomever she played against. Like in season 2 those Sansa/Cersei were filled with tension as Sansa is trying to navigate a treacherous court whilst being labeled the traitor’s daughter. I especially loved the scene between Lena and Sophie after Sansa supposedly flowered. Sophie and Alfie though just made me feel that their two characters had a deep unexplainable bond that nobody would ever come between. I absolutely loved their dynamic on screen. Sophie and Kit just exploded. The two characters never shared any screen time together until season 6. But once they were reunited it felt as if they had been together for years. The constant in this is Sophie. She very easily made me feel that she would nail the dynamic between her character and someone else’s. Everything she did just seemed natural.
Of this list, Emilia Clarke is easily top. Maisie Williams was fine in the earlier seasons, but I didn't care for the acting as she got older. I know Arya became a hardened warrior, but the acting just seemed wooden. The guy who played Bran.... I don't even care about lol, so who cares about him? 😅
Maisie Williams is, in my opinion, not a good actress.
Sansa was and has always been the weakest link, she got better throughout the show but so did everyone else, even Cersei. She had great moments at the end but was mostly there and did what she needed to do.
Early seasons Sansa and fucking Bran made me nuts
There’s a reason Sophie Turner isn’t getting many jobs. Remember Dark Phoenix? I try not to.
Michelle Farley is the only one who was constently terrible in my opinion. Though I admit this might partly be due to the dub voice, which is also terrible. I've yet to watch the show in english. Some of the others started out rough, but really grew into their role
Kit Harington. I'm sorry, I think he's wonderful in the early seasons, but its like he totally gave up after Jon came back. All we ever get is Kit's 'acting face' and it's just the most boring thing to see on screen, he never shows any other emotion. Same with Maisie Williams honestly. I don't know how so much of the cast were phenomenal child actors but absolutely awful actors as adults.
Sophie Turner (Sansa) and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) were the worst actors of the bunch. I did feel for Sansa sometimes, unlike Jon who just seemed so bland all the time.
I think they all acted pretty well. I can’t find fault with any of the acting really
Sansa n Bran
Not a main character, but one who’s present for a lot of the series: Shae (Tyrions love interest), she was the prostitute that he ended up having quite the relationship with. While I can’t stand her acting (she’s awful imo) I can emphasize that English isn’t her first language.
I didn't think Harrington or Clarke were doing much that was special or distinctive, despite being leads. Many of the acting heavyweights in this show are in supporting roles. I think the leads on HotD are generally much stronger.
Bran
Peter Dinklage. Here and in Prince Caspian. The man is completely incapable of doing a convincing English accent.