The sixth season ofGame of Thronesis growing more robust by the week, which is good since the series has been known to, um,dropcharacters rather suddenly. But today,Varietyreports that Australian actressEssie Davis, who gave a fantastic performance in the horror hitThe Babadook, has signed on for a role in the upcoming season. Davis will be playing an actress who stars in a play calledThe Bloody Hand, which is meant to reflect the world of Westeros. And this being a fact-based play and all, Davis gets the juicy role of playing a version of Cersei Lannister—though one imagines the real Cersei won’t be too happy about that.
It’s unclear if Davis’ role is simply a guest spot or more of a recurring thing, butVanity Fairadds thatrecently castRichard E. Grantwill be playing the leader of the theater troupe that is stagingThe Bloody Hand. WhileGame of Thrones’ sixth season will be delving into uncharted territory since there are no more published books, this subplot actually comes from authorGeorge R.R. Martinhimself as it was alluded to in a previously released chapter from the forthcoming (we think) bookThe Winds of Winter.
I’m not sure how I feel aboutGame of Thronesgoing meta, but with Grant and Davis onboard to play the actors, my interest is sufficiently piqued. If that wasn’t enough,Max von Sydowis also onboard asthe Three-Eyed-Ravenwho trains Bran, whileDeadwoodactorIan MacShaneis making his HBO debut in an unspecified role.
ShowrunnersDavid BenioffandD.B. Weissare currently planning to windGame of Thronesdown towards its conclusion, with HBO presidentMichael Lombardorecently (and reluctantly) confirming that right now Benioff and Weiss areplanning for the show to conclude with its eighth season. But that means there’s still three more seasons worth of story to tell—and three more seasons worth of time for Jon Snow to return.
Production is currently underway onGame of Thrones’ sixth season, which will begin airing on HBO in April.
