After the previous announcement that Samwell Tarly’s brother Dickon was being played by UnREAL star Freddie Stroma, we now have confirmation about who will be playing the rest of his family, thanks to Game Of Thrones fan site Watchers On The Wall.
First up is James Faulkner (Da Vinci’s Demons), who will be playing Samwell’s father, military commander Randyll Tarly. Out of the entire brood, he’s the one we know most about, and to be honest he sounds like a bit of a bastard, having forced young Sam to join the Night’s Watch on pain of death after he turned out to not be the tough, macho heir he was hoping for. On the flip side, he’s famed as a formidable fighter (Stannis Baratheon names him as the only man to best his brother, Robert, in battle), so it’ll be good to finally get a glimpse of him, as he isn’t that prominent in the books.
Moreover, it ends speculation that Ian McShane will be playing him. Guess we’ll have to look elsewhere…
Also cast is Samantha Spiro (Bad Education), who will play his mother Melessa. There’s a lot less to go on here, as she hasn’t appeared in the books yet, and Sam never really mentions here. Still, it’s a nice piece of casting.
Finally, there’s Rebecca Benson (who starred in the stage adaptation of Let The Right One In) as Sam’s sister, Talla. Again, not much is known about her, save that she and Samwell got on rather a lot better than he did with the rest of his family. As ever, it’s likely that she’ll have a much bigger role in the show than she has in the books thus far.
Game Of Thrones: Season 6 will air on Sky Atlantic in April 2016. For more news about the biggest TV shows, pick up the latest issue of SciFiNow.
