Diana Rigg, Ciaran Hinds: 'Game of Thrones:' A Look at Season 3's New Faces and Characters (YAHOO)

By Carrie Bell | Yahoo! TV – Mon, Mar 25, 2013 1:03 PM PDT

The cast dishes on Ciaran Hinds, Diana Rigg, and (spoiler!) a giant arriving in Westeros this season.

Helen Sloan/HBO - Mance Raydar (Ciaran Hinds) and Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) in "Game of Thrones" Season 3.

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains storyline and character spoilers for the third season of "Game of Thrones."

With 27 series regulars and hundreds of guest stars, day players, and extras wandering in and out of Westeros and points beyond, keeping track of who's who on "Game of Thrones" is almost as big a feat as planning the Battle of Blackwater Bay. That task isn't going to get any easier when Season 3, which was shot by three units across five countries and promises plenty of fresh faces, begins March 31 on HBO.

Arguably, the most major addition to the cast was Ciaran Hinds. One, his resumé is as respected as Tywin Lannister's and almost as long as the feared coming winter, with "Rome," "Harry Potter," "Political Animals," and "There Will Be Blood" among the highlights. Two, he is portraying Mance Rayder, the ex-Night's Watchman who united 90 clans into one Wildling army currently moving in on the Wall. Rose Leslie (Ygritte) admitted at the junket last week in Beverly Hills to being a tad starstruck as "we've been watching him from a young age. Phenomenal."

Kit Harington, whose Jon Snow is trying to infiltrate the camp and must get Rayder to trust him, was also in awe. "He's a wonderful, wonderful man, and for someone who hadn't read the books and hadn't even seen the show when he joined and did his first few scenes, he nailed the character. That's the mark of the man's genius and genius of the writing."

READ MORE: http://tv.yahoo.com/news/-game-of-thrones---a-look-at-season-3-s-new-faces-and-characters-200346280.html

Ciaran Hinds: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Game of Thrones Star Ciarán Hinds is Not Funny He has specifically requested that we not elaborate on this headline.

By Kimberly Kaye • Mar 26, 2013 • New York City

"Don't explain it in that little section below the headline," Ciarán Hinds instructs while organizing tea for the two of us in his dressing room at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. "It should just be, headline: ‘Mr. Hinds isn't funny,' period. Then your first sentence can be, ‘Hinds comes from a long line of dead stoics,'" he laughs. Of course it's not true. Anyone who helps an interviewer fabricate skewed headlines and desk copy has a sense of humor, and Hinds continues to show it off with wry one-liners and well-placed expletives. A Belfast native and veteran onscreen bad guy in flicks like Munich and TV shows like Game of Thrones, the leading man is currently dominating Broadway's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, playing infirmed Southern non-gentleman Big Daddy opposite Scarlett Johansson, Benjamin Walker, and Debra Monk. It's a role he nearly didn't take, convinced an American might be better suited to the Southern gothic poetics of Tennessee Williams. With the show's run coming to an end on March 31, we checked in with Hinds to talk about poetry, the possibility of doing drag, and his Broadway run with Scarlett and company.

You said opening night you felt there must be somebody more qualified to do American, poetic Tennessee Williams than you. Do you still feel similarly?

That's tough. I said yes to the job, I get paid to do the job. The job is to not shortchange anybody. But no [actor] ever really knows what [audiences get] from what they do. You try to work, with the director and your fellow actors, to get somewhere, but other people are the judge of whether you hit that note right. That's why sometimes you say yes to parts like this, even if you're unsure. You're unsure about much of what you do. Sometimes people will say to me ‘Why do you always play bad men? [points to face] It's the face!

READ MORE OF THE INTERVIEW HERE

Dwayne Johnson And Ray Stevenson Recall Their Battles On The Set Of G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (COMIC BOOK MOVIE)

With G.I. Joe: Retaliation now out in the US, what better way to get psyched for the movie than reading all about the epic fight scenes which took place between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Roadblock) and Ray Stevenson (Firefly)?

Perhaps one of the most anticipated aspects of G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the big screen debut of fan favourite
Firefly. Enlisted by Cobra to break Cobra Commander out of jail, he plays a pivotal role in the sequel, and director John M. Chu had this to say about why he wanted to include character. "Firefly sees beauty in the redistribution of energy, so while explosions may seem like destruction to us, he believes he is creating something. This almost artistic philosophy made Firefly really interesting to me and it went way beyond being merely a cold-hearted killer." According to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Firefly "only had about six lines when we first read the script," but they soon realised that they had to give him a much larger role in the movie. Who better to play him than Dexter and Thor star Ray Stevenson?

Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=76322#fx7vWdmQ16WLjOsl.99 

Ray Stevenson reveals his panic after flooring Hollywood hardman The Rock during filming for GI Joe: Retaliation (DAILY RECORD)

ACTION hero thought he'd broken champion wrestlers nose 

when stunt for fight scene in latest movie went badly wrong.

MOVIE star Ray Stevenson has revealed his panic after accidentally flooring Hollywood hardman The Rock.

The 48-year-old, who featured in hit TV series Rome, thought his uppercut might have broken the champion wrestler’s nose.

The two heavyweight actors had been swapping punches for a fight scene in big-budget romp GI Joe: Retaliation, which also stars Elodie Yung and Adrianne Palicki.

Ray has told how, even though the bruising tussle with The Rock – whose real name is Dwayne Johnson – was as tightly choreographed as a dance, slips still happened.

He said: “The worst moment was when we filmed the first big fight. I spun round and accidentally caught him right across the bridge of his nose.

“I drew blood and I was worried. But Dwayne just shrugged it off. He was great about it and just said, ‘These things happen.’”

Ray, who was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, joins the GI Joe film franchise as explosive villain Firefly, while The Rock plays Roadblock, a vital member of the GI Joe elite fighting force.

Ray accepted from the start that bumps and bruises were inevitable during the creation of realistic action sequences.

He said: “Dwayne and I went for it and we did clip each other a couple of times.

“His arms are the size of my thighs and, when he blocked my fist, it was like hitting an iron bar. I was black and blue with bruises.”

READ MORE: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity-interviews/ray-stevenson-reveals-floored-holywood-1782598

Theo James Cast As Four In ‘Divergent’; Kate Winslet, Aaron Eckhart, Ray Stevenson And Miles Teller Also Starring By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday March 15, 2013 @ 10:00am PDT (DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD)

BREAKING: The male lead in Summit‘s Neil Burger-directed adaptation of Divergent has gone to Theo James, currently the star of the CBS series Golden Boy and whose credits include Downton Abbey and Underworld: The Awakening. He will star opposite The Spectacular Now‘s Shailene Woodley. The film’s set in a futuristic world where people are herded into factions based on their personalities. Woodley plays Tris Prior, who is deemed a “divergent” who doesn’t fit into any group and who learns she and other divergents are going to be destroyed. She needs to find out what makes these divergents so dangerous. James’ character Four is her intense instructor and one of the leaders of the Dauntless faction. For James, it’s a potential star-making role.

Summit is also closing deals with Kate Winslet, Aaron Eckhart, Ray Stevenson and Miles Teller. They will join Jai Courtney, Zoe Kravitz, Ansel Elgort and Maggie Q in the cast. Erik Feig and Gillian Bohrer are overseeing for Lionsgate. The film is based on Veronica Roth’s bestselling novel, and Vanessa Taylor and Evan Daugherty wrote the script. Production begins April in Chicago.

READ MORE: http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/theo-james-cast-as-four-in-divergent-kate-winslet-aaron-eckhart-ray-stevenson-and-miles-teller-also-starring/

Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy - CAESAR'S DEATH - HAPPY IDES OF MARCH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FvgP5hO99o

ZARADUR

James Purefoy: The Following renewed for season 2 News Louisa Mellor 5 Mar 2013 - 07:00 (DEN OF GEEK)

Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy will be taking another spin on the serial killer merry-go-round as Fox renews The Following...

Fans of puppet master serial killer drama The Following can rest easy in the knowledge that, though we're almost at the halfway point in season one, a further fifteen episodes are on their way. The Kevin Williamson thriller starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy as a former FBI agent and his cult-leading serial-killing nemesis, has just been renewed for season two.

Described by Fox as an "edge-of-your-seat" "thrill ride", The Following debuted to somewhat mixed reviews, but audience interest has seen it through. Fulfilling the unspoken rule that everyone involved with The Following has to be named Kevin, here's what Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly had to say:

READ MORE: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-following/24707/the-following-renewed-for-season-2

Hello Ray Stevenson you silver fox Posted on March 2, 2013 By Pip Ellwood - (EF)

We know that fancying the villain in a series is not usually the done thing but Ray Stevenson is making us a little swoony in the new season of Dexter.

The Irish actor plays Isaak Sirko, the mob boss that makes Dexter’s life a misery over the course of the seventh season. He also has the Miami Metro Homicide Division in his sights. Ooo he’s an evil bugger.

/Ray’s been in loads of stuff over the years including Rome, Thor and The Three Musketeers. He’s definitely a bit of a silver fox and sometimes we prefer an older man.

- See more at: http://www.entertainment-focus.com/gay-focus-section/gay-focus-news/hello-ray-stevenson-you-silver-fox/#sthash.jSZjcb8c.dpuf