Game of Thrones/Trivia


 * Actor Existence Failure:
 * Margaret John, who played Old Nan, died a couple months before the show began airing. "Lord Snow," where she first appears, was dedicated to her memory.
 * Narrowly and thankfully averted with Sean Bean which, in light of.
 * In an odd coincidence, Jason Momoa, who plays Drogo  was likewise violently attacked in a bar (albeit some time in the past). Drogo's anti-hero scars are real ones, the result of Momoa being attacked with a broken bottle.
 * Absentee Actor: With such a huge Ensemble Cast, this is inevitable. Two actors did appear in every episode that aired before their characters were Killed Off for Real:
 * The Cast Showoff: Though it never derails the show, musical theatre star Kerry Ingram (Shireen) and former British pop star Jerome Flynn (Bronn) are given a chance to show their skills.
 * Dyeing for Your Art:
 * Sophie Turner went from blonde to redhead for Sansa; Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry, went from blond to black, while Peter Dinklage and Jack Gleeson went from brown/dark blond to light blond to better portray members of the extremely light-haired Lannister family. A lot of the other actors, like Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey, wear wigs. Meanwhile, Maisie Williams cut her hair to convincingly portray Arya trying to pass as a boy in Season 2.
 * Daniel Portman is a sportsman in real life, but let himself go in order to be more believable as Podrick Payne.
 * Fan Community Nickname: "Unsullied" for those who have not read the books, and "Bookwalkers" for those who have.
 * Fan Nickname:
 * The first season brought us Carl Drogo, Kelly C/Danny, Salsa Stork, Bob the King, Middlefinger and Tyrone Lancaster.
 * Asha Yar for Asha Greyjoy, on account of her being called Yara in the tv series.
 * Zorro Zaron Ducksauce (or some variation thereof) for the confusingly named Xaro Xhoan Daxos.
 * Talisa gets Florence Bonesaw (Flo-Bo for short) for her role as a war nurse and her penchant for amputations.
 * Given his scruffy disposition in season 2, some fans have taken to calling Jaime Sawyer Lannister due the similarity.
 * Stan(nis) the Man(nis).
 * Genius Bruiser: Conan Stevens, actor portraying Ser Gregor Clegane is this in real life. 7 ft tall wrestler, bodybuilder and stunt actor, he is also scripwriter, computer geek and made his own website all by himself.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: The series is already looking like it's going to be positively brimming with familiar actors. So far:
 * Boromir is married to Hermione's mom, who is also Nathan's mom. He was also once killed by Batman.
 * Fred Flintstone is the king (having retired from being a male stripper), and his queen? Sarah Connor/Queen Gorgo.
 * That kid from Batman Begins is their offspring. Or is he?
 * Ronon Dex, khal of the Dothraki, who goes on to become Conan the Barbarian.
 * Viserys is Will Scarlett. And Son-of-Mine.
 * Likewise, Father Octavian is the knightly guardian of Son-of-Mine's sister. He's also a former member of the Illuminati, and Hamlet, and used to be engaged to Mary Crawley.
 * Natalia Tena AKA Tonks is Osha the wildling.
 * Lord Frey once made his living as Hogwarts' school caretaker.
 * Dagmer, Theon's first mate, was once a salesman for Wernham-Hogg.
 * Tommy Carcetti is the kingdom's master of coin.
 * Littlefinger also used to be a Memetic Sex God in Manchester's gay district.
 * Good luck not expecting the Hound to say "Yarp."
 * No wonder Tywin Lannister was such a magnificent bastard, he's Vetinari! He also spent time on Fury 161 as a prisoner!
 * It's hard taking him seriously now considering he was in Your Highness.
 * Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, having been promoted to General Veers is now the Grand Maester.
 * Chris Miles is Gendry, a blacksmith's apprentice and one of Robert's bastards. He was also best friends with Merlin in Ealdor.
 * Cassie Ainsworth plays Gilly.
 * Hamish Campbell's dad is Jeor Mormont.
 * Trumpkin is Tyrion Lannister. Also, that dude Liz Lemon briefly dated.
 * Magister Douglas Javert, Shadow Minister for Social Affairs and Citizenship (a.k.a. the Voice of London) welcomes you to the Free City of Pentos.
 * Genial Harry Grout is Maester Aemon.
 * Little John is, er, the Greatjon.
 * Rachel is Melisandre.
 * Apothecary Pythol apparently survived his apparent decapitation at the hands of a Daemon Prince and has become a tutor and scientific adviser.
 * Thomas Jefferson is Stannis Baratheon.
 * Septa Mordanes once helped the Prime Minister in dealing with extraterrestrial negotiations for the Children of Earth.
 * Anne Boleyn is Margaery Tyrell, and about to get another shot at being queen.
 * Poor Pyp got attacked with an axe by his crazed probation worker and sent to The Wall, all for mugging Mark Corrigan.
 * Jerome Clarke (Lancel Lannister) really looks different when he's not in school...
 * John Amsterdam is the Kingslayer!
 * The priest who was the Slitheen PM in Doctor Who.
 * Gwen the maid who aspired to be a secretary ends up a Wildling instead.
 * Father Kellen Ashby is now Commander of the Night's Watch.
 * Irony as She Is Cast: Singer Wilko Johnson and DJ Kristian Nairn as The Voiceless Illyn Payne and the one-worded Hodor.
 * Mean Character, Nice Actor: According to DVD Commentary, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister, called "Kingslayer") and Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon).
 * Meta Casting: Theon Greyjoy is a wastrel and Butt Monkey who lives in the shadow of his sister. Alfie Allen is the brother of the singer Lily Allen, and as for the butt monkey and wastrel part, she wrote a not very flattering song about him.
 * Older Than They Look: Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont, who is actually age-appropriate to the character at 50, but sure doesn't look it.
 * Maisie Williams is only 1 year younger than Sophie Turner.
 * The Other Darrin: Ian Whyte took over Conan Stevens' role as Gregor Clegane in series 2.
 * The Other Marty: Even before it began airing, it happened for a lot of characters between the original pilot and the series proper (most of the pilot was then reshot with the new cast).
 * Daenerys went from Tamzin Merchant to Emilia Clarke
 * Catelyn went from Jennifer Ehle to Michelle Fairley
 * Magister Illyrio went from Ian McNeice to Roger Allam
 * Gared went from Richard Ridings to Dermot Keaney
 * Ser Waymar went from Jamie Campbell Bower to Rob Ostlere
 * Not a cast member, but Tom McCarthy, director of The Station Agent (Peter Dinklage's most prominent role), The Visitor, and Win Win, helmed the original pilot and helped with casting, but ultimately did not feel invested enough in the series, or that he was good enough at directing for television, to continue, and went back to film. He says "I’d like to think I had some impact on it, but I don’t think much of that is mine anymore." The pilot was reshot by HBO house director Timothy Van Patten.
 * Younger Than They Look:
 * Sophie Turner, Sansa Stark's actress, despite being tall and looking fairly grown up, is only 15 years old, and was 14 at the time the first season was filmed (which is, more or less, one year older than her character on the show).
 * Peter Dinklage (42 years old) playing Tyrion Lannister (24 in the books) causes this effect in Tyrion. Then again, Tyrion's age is never given in the series, although he is supposed to be the youngest of the Lannister siblings, his elders being around 31 or so in the novels.
 * As of the end of season 2, it seems that Cersei and Jaime are 36, and Tyrion 32 - give or take one year.