Filming began yesterday in Northern Ireland, so we should see official casting confirmations any day now! Until then, it’s time for more casting speculation.
One source heard from a local in Bellaghy, N. Ireland, last week that Game of Thrones would be shooting there, possibly at Ballyscullion Park. As we found out yesterday, this was correct. The same local also mentioned that English actress Diana Rigg was coming to town. Rigg, star of the classic television show The Avengers, hasn’t been mentioned in connection to GoT, but the rumor is intriguing. Ballyscullion Park is frequently home to film and television shoots, so it’s possible she was connected to another project filming in the area. [This one's just about confirmed, some 4Chan thread spilled the beans earlier]
Diana Rigg aka Emma Peel from the Avengers. No, not that Avengers.
We’re still waiting on confirmation of speculated cast members Mackenzie Crook and Philip McGinley. Since Crook was photographed outside the site of the script reading with the cast, he’s almost a sure thing. We don’t know yet what role he’ll play, but Elio at Westeros.org has said that Crook will not be playing Vargo Hoat. It appears that McGinley was filming yesterday, though his role is still also unknown.
Mackenzie Crook aka the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean with the eyeball scenes
We know Nathalie Emmanuel is involved due to her tweeting of a script. We’re still waiting to find out what part the Hollyoaks actress will be filling.
Philip McGinley aka this guy. IDK who he is either
WiC commenter Carne did some digging and found that Clive Mantle will not be returning as the Greatjon Umber in season three, according to the actor’s agent.
Nathalie Emmanuel aka gawjus and probably doomed to like 30 seconds of airtime per episode before being killed off
Asim Ahmad tweeted on July 8th that he was working on Game of Thrones, and it’s been reported that he mentioned on Facebook that he’s playing Thoros of Myr. We haven’t had any on-set sightings or word from HBO to confirm the actor’s casting.
Asim Ahmad aka another reason for Lindaaa's ragetears to fall down her pure white cheeks
A blind gossip report from IMDB that is fun but unreliable: A commenter posted a thread about a “big name” being cast on GoT this season. They claim the source is their friend, an actor on the show. The IMDB postings are anonymous and don’t carry a lot of weight with their vagueness. They describe the new casting as “old school big”, and a “bit of a legend”. The poster says their actor friend reported, “You could hear a pin drop when [this person] talked,” but wouldn’t provide any other hints. They say the ‘legend’ was about 5ft 8, but it was probably a joking answer to “Can you tell me how big they are?” There may be no basis to this posting, but if the show cast a name like Diana Rigg or some other British legend, it would fit.
OMG, Diana Rigg is fucking inspired casting for Margaery's grandma! Dead ringer for Natalie Dormer back in the day. Can't wait to see her slay as the thorniest queen of all