The 'Game of Thrones' casting director responds to critics who say the show isn't diverse enough
HBO
The INSIDER Summary:
- "Game of Thrones" has been criticized for its overwhelmingly white casting.
- Casting director Nina Gold says she "doesn't feel like I have to defend" the show from critics.
- She says she values diversity in casting, and has been praised for it in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Nina Gold, the legendary casting director for "Game of Thrones," didn't have much to say about the criticism the show has received over diversity.
Over the years, the show, which is based in the fantasy land of Westeros, inspired by the British Isles, has received criticism for having an overwhelmingly white cast. Gold told Vanity Fair that diversity is important to her, but she isn't too concerned about the subject when it comes to "Game of Thrones."
"I guess I don’t know what to really say about it, because it’s not like there’s no diversity in the casting in 'Game of Thrones.' We’ve turned Grey Worm and Missandei into really deep characters," Gold said. "I really do believe in diversity in casting, and always have done. I don’t feel I have to defend it, really."
Gold pointed out that the show includes many large families, and it's part of her job to make sure that the actors in those roles look like they can be family members:
"Even though these are fantasy worlds, there are tribes, families, and dynasties. Once you’ve put one mark on the catalyst for the Targaryens or the Starks, you really owe it to the ... the authenticity of trying to make them a family somehow. In the books, the Targaryens are these white, white people with silver hair and violet eyes. The Starks are kind of rough, like Northern English people. The Lannisters are golden, aren’t they? We really believed we were doing it like the books, basically."
Gold has won three Emmys for her casting, two of them for "Game of Thrones." The diversity in the other projects she's cast have had a mixed record. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was widely praised for its diverse, modern casting, while the Biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings" was widely panned for having a mainly white cast even though it takes place in Egypt.
When a fan asked George R.R. Martin in 2014 about the racial representation on "Game of Thrones," Martin said that non-white characters were "secondary" and "tertiary," because that's representative of the racial makeup of his fantasy land of Westeros.
"Westeros around 300 AC is nowhere near as diverse as 21st century America, of course," Martin wrote. "With that being said, I do have some ‘characters of color’ who will have somewhat larger roles in WINDS OF WINTER. Admittedly, these are secondary and tertiary characters, though not without importance."
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