Sorry, no casting puzzles for you today.

Offers are out on quite a few parts, both major and minor, but I’m not aware of any deals closing besides the ones already announced. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Who knows? These things can take time.

Meanwhile, readings and auditions continue for a lot of other roles, and I’ve been reviewing tapes when I can. Lots and lots of kids of late. Mycah. Rickon. Tommen. Myrcella. Casting kids is really tough, especially when they only have a very few lines. Sometimes you get lucky and find someone like Maisie or Sophie or Isaac, with acting chops far beyond their years, a real instinct for the art. Those are the rare exceptions. Most kids… well, they can look great, and they try hard, and maybe in a few years they will be terrific… but right now, they’re just kids reciting lines. They never become the character. So the search goes on. But I’ve got every confidence that David and Dan and Nina will turn up someone great, even for the small parts (and maybe we already have, I haven’t finished reviewing all the kids yet, not even close).

The auditions for the part of Ser Ilyn Payne are the strangest I’ve even been witness to. Ser Ilyn has no tongue and no lines, of course, so the actors just have to stand there and look mean & scary, reacting to the dialogue of other characters being read to them by the casting assistants. No words to work with, just their mouth, eyes, facial expressions. Talk about challenging.

I know there are aspiring actors and actresses reading this. You guys have all my empathy. It’s a tough, tough profession you’ve chosen. Good luck to all of you.

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