THR reports the role of Catelyn Stark has been recast, in what they call a ‘minor tweaking’ of the pilot. Jennifer Ehle is being replaced by the Irish actress Michelle Fairley. In his blog, James Hibberd writes his sources say the change was due to ‘behind-the-scenes’ considerations and not due to Ehle’s performance. This of course means that Catelyn scenes from the pilot will need to be reshot. It is likelly this is the bad news GRRM mentioned in his recent Not a Blog post. We will be able to see Fairley play Hermione Granger’s mother in the coming Harry Potter installments.
Hear Me Roar: This came out of the blue. We could speculate there were scheduling, contracting, or simply personal reservations (Ehle’s recent maternity could have played a part) that brought this about. I believe we have all been mentally prepared to see Ehle in the role next year, and looking forward to it. Now we have another actress to get familiar with. She has the right looks, as far as I am concerned, and was probably considered for the role already during the first casting round. While I would not call this change bad news, it is an unexpected snag in the planning the producers could not foresee. I hope there will not be many more surprises like that on the way to the first season premiere next spring.
You guys and your dirty thoughts 
))) I even do...
Loading ...
421 Comments
That's a shame for Ms. Ehle. Maybe we'll find out why later on as the series develops.
HBO has done this before, with Tara Thornton on True Blood, they brought in Rutina Wesley to replace the original pilot actress. And since Rutina Wesley is awesome as Tara, I'm inclined to trust HBO's judgement. GeorgeQuote Reply
What. The. F@ck.
I'm gonna reserve judgement, but I don't like this woman, based on the online photos I could find. She doesn't look like Catelyn to me.
But again, I'm not about to go off the deep end like the Tamzin critics. I'll wait until I've seen her in the role first. Josh ParkerQuote Reply
Does this announcement imply there won't be anymore recastings? Would they announce them all at once if there was more than one? @ddaimyoQuote Reply
Oh man! I really wanted Lizzy Bennett to be Cat. I'm sure this new actress will be fine, but I haven't seen her in anything. Hopefully this was Ehle's choice–not a firing. Perhaps she thought it would be too much work with a small child? (Now I'm worried about Lena Headey leaving too!) EmilyQuote Reply
This is a totally unknown person for me. I just hope they took her for her skills and not as a cheap local alternative.
I think this is her in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL914ymt9wY at 1:10 so we can check it out a bit. Correct me if I'm wrong TremereQuote Reply
It's weird and suprising to me, but only because I had already accepted Ehle as Catelyn and this is kinda out of left field. But, I definitely trust that HBO is doing the right thing, and now that I'm looking at her, Fairley looks like she will fit into the role and the rest of the cast. I agree with swordpen who said that Ehle was a bit on the dainty side for the role. I couldn't picture her as un-Cat. nicoleQuote Reply
Well, that's not reserving your judgement much
give this some time to settle in. Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
I'm a little sad. Now I can't use the "Jennifer Ehle is in this" line to get my roommate to watch it. __I guess we'll see. Phoenix_tornQuote Reply
Shocking. Hopefully this is the only bad news George was referring to (He did mention several fronts). Lets spare a thought for poor miss Fairley however, she's already had one fictional child slaughtered by Jaime Lannister in the recent Suduvu contest and now she has to endure him crippling another! Still, I'm sure she will greatly enjoy kicking shit on him come season 2! TobyQuote Reply
I think there are several possible explanations. One I think is likely is that Ehle, having not appeared in an ongoing, episodic television series before (CAMOMILE LAWN and PRIDE & PREJUDICE were limited mini-series) may have decided after the pilot that the workload (spending 6-7 months away from home every year for the next three years) was not compatible with family life or giving up the amount of other film and stage roles involved. It's not uncommon for actors to commit mentally to a project only to find the actual reality of the production is rather more than they were expecting.
Total supposition, but if it isn't a performance issue, than it must be a scheduling or time commitment problem. Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Wha???!?!?
Maybe this is the "bad news" that GRRM mentioned on his blog yesterday? LexQuote Reply
The most annoying part of this is having to go back and do those reshoots, but she's not bad. Ehle was an ideal casting, so it's a shame, but Fairley looks right and I'm optimistic. That said, losing a big name is never good. Like someone said above – it would have been great to use the "Jennifer Ehle is in this" line to get non-fan people to watch it, but Sean Bean is in it too, so that works just as well! ewasrQuote Reply
Going through her filming history I see this interesting role she played…
Mrs. Marlish in the movie "The Others", where she played one of the others.
I should not be the only one to see the irony in it.
In the end she is good enough to be playing in movies so why shouldn't she be good enough for our movies. I just miss the riddle game GRRM could have made out of it. With her being an Other and playing in Harry Potter like someone else in the cast as well TremereQuote Reply
I hope the rest is not connected to GOT, he DID say several fronts … Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
I just PRAY no one else gets re-cast. For example, if Sean Bean or Peter Dinklage leaves the project, I will be CRUSHED! LexQuote Reply
Isn't Catelyn supposed to be pretty? veghistQuote Reply
IMHO Fairley looks more like Cat in my head.
I am not saying at all that Ehle was a bad choice, but I like Michelle s face more for Cat.
So, as I said earlier the casting is in progress. The_Rabbit01Quote Reply
Some recent photos: http://www.potterstoryweb.com/gallery/thumbnails…. EmilyQuote Reply
I think she could pull the look off once they address her hair color. She seems to have the weathered face that has seen a lot of pain and distress as seen in the later novels. Let's hope she can act well too, which I'm sure isn't an issue if HBO made the move. Hodor hodorQuote Reply
I'm not sure yet how to feel on this choice. Ehle has definitely grown on me so it's a shame to see her go.
I was looking for more pictures of Michelle Fairley but there aren't many around but on some of them she looks a bit too old (at least older than I imagine Cat). Does anybody know how old she is? But maybe it's just the photos. I definitely like some of her better (younger) pics and she has nice blue eyes (the one thing that bugged me about the Ehlec choice).
Found some more pictures here: http://www.snitchseeker.com/gallery/thumbnails.ph... Md.Quote Reply
I'm not super keen on her look (she seems quite a bit older than Ehle), but her acting seems pretty good in that youtube clip. LexQuote Reply
ouch. i find Fairley to be an attractive woman. nicoleQuote Reply
"Behind the scenes reasons" is a pretty strange and dubious statement for an announcement like this. It's one I've never seen before in any re-casting announcement. Usually you get phrases like "creative differences," "family/personal reasons." It could be anything. If it was a problem they had with her performance, they would never publicly say it, so it's likely we'll never hear about it except maybe as gossip at some later date. But professionally, that kind of thing is just not done, especially for an actress of her stature.
I know that after the pilot of "Star Trek: Voyager," the original Captain, Genevieve Bujold, dropped out because the pace of shooting was something she knew she wasn't familiar with. So, it could be something like that, but maybe it's more about the size and length of the commitment – the style of shooting the show seems to be more like a movie set than at TV show, which is very different.
I don't know, it's a huge question for me what that statement could mean. BrudeQuote Reply
I agree with sordpen and nicole. As much as I like Jennifer Ehle, especially for her role as Lizzy Bennet, and was happy to see her name attached to GoT, I had a hard time picturing her as un-Cat. But that could just be the recurring Lizzy Bennet image I have…
The reshooting is a bummer, though.
But otherwise, this isn't the end of the world for me. I'd rather a believable ensemble cast than a collection of big names who don't mix well together.
And hopefully this is the only recasting they will have to do. I'm worried about the rest of GRRM's "bad news on several fronts"…. NymeriaQuote Reply
I hate to focus on looks, but… In terms of Fairley's "look", I think she'll be excellent as the grief-stricken Cat, and as Un-Cat…
But it may be a bit strange in the first season. Isn't Sansa supposed to look just like a younger version of her? Does Fairley look like someone that Littlefinger would be in love with/obsessed with? LexQuote Reply
In fact, she was pretty dreadfull if you ask me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsnG8743oxU Or maybe it's just that Rutina kicks ass as Tara. Md.Quote Reply
Jeez… please, let's not repeat the embarassing type of reaction that Tamzin initially got. That made us all look bad. LexQuote Reply
I agree with sordpen and nicole. As much as I like Jennifer Ehle, especially for her role as Lizzy Bennet, and was happy to see her name attached to GoT, I had a hard time picturing her as un-Cat. But that could just be the recurring Lizzy Bennet image I have…
The reshooting is a bummer, though.
But otherwise, this isn't the end of the world for me. I'd rather a believable ensemble cast than a collection of big names who don't mix well together.
And hopefully this is the only recasting they will have to do. I'm worried about the rest of GRRM's "bad news on several fronts"…. NymeriaQuote Reply
Thank you to The Rabbit for helping get the worst imaginable photo from Google Images. Just about any other one is better than this one. I like the one from here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2007/...
I think the new lady will be great, she has plenty of experience. Goodbye Ehle, it just wasn't meant to be. Plus I couldn't imagine you as Undead Cat. And plus you looked suspiciously like Gillian Anderson. SteveQuote Reply
Yes, on several fronts makes me nervous… Phoenix_tornQuote Reply
Worst photo? I don't think so. THIS is the worst google photo:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/multimedia/arch... LexQuote Reply
It's not that important, but If you are talking about beauty, i think that she is more attractive than Ehle. MoldaQuote Reply
I definitely think she looks too old for Catelyn. Ugh. Christina KolbQuote Reply
How is your comment helpful in any way? LexQuote Reply
After seeing more of her photos i am not that sure anymore about what i said before
) MoldaQuote Reply
I'm not trying to be helpful. SteveQuote Reply
Thank you for posting that. Clearly HBO knows when sometihng isn't working and isn't afriad to change it. Rutina's Tara is so much more interesting. Phoenix_tornQuote Reply
YEAH UN CAT IS RIGHT blahQuote Reply
I've yet to see a good photo of her. Unless Cat is supposed to be a homely looking lady in her mid 50's. Steven ScottQuote Reply
to those that are saying she looks too old for Catelyn–she was cast as Hermione Granger's mom in Harry Potter. the casting for HP has been superb no matter what anyone thinks about the books or movies, so if they think she is appropriate to play a 15/16 year old's mom i will not disagree with them. nicoleQuote Reply
Nicole you have the most terrible logic i have ever encountered. These are two different people. patQuote Reply
I'd like to see a photo of her not in character at an event or something (premiere?). Because in that lovely Google image shot of her (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/multimedia/arch... ) and as Emilia in "Othello", the makeup seems to be making her intentionally dowdy. EmilyQuote Reply
I don't have a big issue with the change as at least they haven't started shooting episodes yet. My only question…she's supposed to king of look like Sansa? VohdreQuote Reply
After looking at some one those I think that should will fill the role well. I always imagined her looks as rivaling that of the Lanister b*^ch maybe a little thicker but very attractive none the less. She seems like a good actress from the small clip I found on youtube. KevinQuote Reply
http://www.potterstoryweb.com/gallery/displayimag...
Yeah, she will work… KevinQuote Reply
actually i think that the other actress on this photo would make much batter Cat… :/ I agree that she looks a bit too old, but that might be just characterization issue… Piotr PetelskiQuote Reply
Shes also supposed to be attractive. I dont get it, wasnt she even famed for it?? lutQuote Reply
She is supposed to look like a hot milf with Tully hair and big boobs. Well, they missed the mark on Ehle and this one, and meanwhile Cersei has a monopoly on 'hot milf'. So apparently the Stark wife is supposed to look dignified and not so hot. Coz hot means shallow. SteveQuote Reply
wow…. HBO should make an appearance on failblog stefQuote Reply
Yes, she was, lut: In the early 1920's until the beginning for WWII, she was renown for her beauty. Since then she has seen too many 'days at the theater'… SteveQuote Reply
2 Trackbacks