Game of Thrones just added a big piece to the Season 2 puzzle. Literally, this actress is big, not in name perhaps but definitely in stature. Those of you familiar with the George R.R. Martin series, "A Song of Ice and Fire," are probably now aware of which character we're talking about...a large woman and prominent in the second chapter of the series (A Clash of Kings)? Yes, they've cast Brienne, the Blue Knight of Tarth.
According to the HBO Watch blog, "Gwendoline Christie has been cast as Brienne, the Blue Knight in Game of Thrones season 2." However, the casting, and more importantly, the dissemination of the information, was handled in a much more engaging fashion. As he has done in the past, Martin likes to let casting clues slip out on his personal blog, in order to get his fans to figure it out themselves. This time around, he said only this in a post titled I'm Blue: "The she-wolf of France has stormed the barbican. The Aussie turned her into a bunny." Not the easiest of clues (meaning, I would have NO CLUE).
Luckily, there are those on the internet much smarter than I (and with loads of free time, apparently) because they quickly cracked the code and discovered that Martin was indeed hinting at Gwendoline Christie. These guesses were quickly confirmed by the man himself, in his subsequent post, The Maid of Tarth:
The part of Brienne, Maid of Tarth, will be played by British actress GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE. This was another one of those cases where there was hardly any debate. The day the first batch of auditions went up for the role, we looked at a dozen actresses who were reading for Brienne and one actress who WAS Brienne. Gwendoline gave a great reading, and her look was just perfect.
Brienne the Blue Knight plays a very significant role in the second book, and without spoiling the goings-on, here's a brief background on her character. Brienne is an only child (her three siblings did not live past childhood) and therefore heiress to Evenfall Hall, currently presided over by her father, Lord Selwyn. Brienne isn't much of a lady (or a looker) and instead is very skilled in the art of combat. When we first meet her, she is strongly on the side of...ha, not telling. No spoilers here.
More casting will be coming over the next month (leading up to their panel at Comic-Con), and I can't wait to see who they choose for Stannis Baratheon, Melisandre, and Davos (The Onion Knight). Game of Thrones returns to HBO next Spring.
