Chapter Text
*
From Variety:
John Snow to direct “Good Queen Alysanne” from Tyrion Lannister’s script.
Director Jon Snow is set to direct the highly anticipated “Good Queen Alysanne”, penned by Tyrion Lannister. The drama, whose script topped the Black List last year, is set to start production early next year. No names yet, besides Snow and Lannister, are attached to the project but casting will start as early as next week, sources confirm.
This is Snow’s first project since last year’s “Fire and Ice”
Keep reading…
*
In hindsight, he realised that he had been naïve.
Which was frankly an understatement to convey how much of a bloody idiot he had been, how he had known nothing.
To be hailed as the new Tarantino, Scorsese after that little movie he had made straight out of Uni, with his friends, by taking out a mortgage on his own family house, maxing out all his cards, asking money to all his friends and acquaintances had been one thing.
The next project had been a walk in the park in comparison; he had paid his debts, he had only had to deal with studios and a million of things that went with the job: lights, props, actors insecurities, how to stay within the budget and still make things look cool.
Easy.
His third movie – within four year from the first had been a huge box office hit, it had gained traction and had had awards buzz from TIFF to nominations morning.
He had been snubbed, of course. Hell, if Christopher Nolan got snubbed on a regular basis, who was he Jon Snow, to complain?
And then Good Queen Alysanne happened.
Tyrion Lannister had written the script, which meant that everyone and their mother wanted to be part of it. Lannister was, simply put, the best in town. He was also Joffrey Baratheon maternal’s uncle but, at the time, it didn’t matter.
He truly knew nothing at the time.
The script was – everything he had dreamed of while growing up: exciting, funny, scary, dramatic; it had everything in it and more. As he read it – thanks to an Oscar afterparty and way too much vodka and the fact that Lannister had looked at him in the eyes and told him that he might not butcher his script and not be a total hack job with it – he could see it: from the first to the last page, he knew how he wanted to shoot it, he knew that it would look majestic and unique and that, for the first time since that little movie, he would actually have to stop and listen to his actors.
Yep, he knew nothing.
He didn’t know Sansa Stark at the time. Well, no one truly did. They knew her family, of course because unless one lived under a rock it was impossible not to know the Tully-Stark dynasty.
Actors and editors and cinematographers that had been there since the beginning – and even before, in some cases.
The fact that Ned and Catherine had hidden in some castle in Ireland and had kept their children away from the circus had not mattered in the long run: Robb had been the first to rebel, even if only partly, as he worked in theatre, and stayed the hell away from the silver screen; Theon, their adoptive son, was making a name for himself as an editor, reshaping how tv was made. Sansa, however, was a surprise.
Starting with her screen test.
He had decided, early on, while still reading the script on his sofa, with Ghost, his dog at his feet, that he would not accept tapes – not for Queen Alysanne. That was even before he was actually given the okay to direct the movie and pre-production started.
Casting directors were essential, they did miracles sometimes, but in that case, he had felt, deep in his gut, that he would have to be there. From extras to the main roles he would have to test actors.
It was nerve-wracking – he found out. He still wasn’t jaded enough not to care about people and he was lucky that Brienne was a kick-ass producer who had been around far longer than he had because he would have drowned within the first day if it weren’t for her.
Queen Alysanne was the talk of the town. He was a young director who had a reputation for being difficult (which actually meant that he didn’t take any bullshit if he could help it).
That said, he had no idea, none whatsoever, about what he got into.
*
Melisandre Gossip: Celebrity Gossip, News, Photos Rumours
Blind Item: Sparks flying?
This movie is the talk of the town. Many young actresses have been testing for the title role – the director didn’t accept tapes for this movie, especially not for the female protagonist.
It was clear to everyone, however, that the director had found his queen when sparks started flying during her screen test.
Watch this space for a surprising casting.
*
Maergery Tirell was not stupid. She played dumb on occasion when it suited her, during talk shows interviews, for example, or to avoid handsy producers. Stupid, however, was something she decidedly was not. She tested for Good Queen Alysanne the same day her friend Sansa Stark did.
She had known Sansa since they were children and went to the same prep school and, later, the same public one. Yes, they were those sort of actors, the ones that came from public schools and privileged backgrounds; the posh ones. She honestly couldn’t care less about her background; she had studied hard to get where she was and the fact that she had a posh accent and a good education didn’t make her any less a good actress.
Sansa, however, had been a surprise; she had never done theatre while at school, she had been part of the crew, but had not done one show. Only later, did she find out that her parents had asked her not to and the reason for that request.
They had stayed friends even after school, while she burst her arse doing local theatre work and Sansa went at BAFTAs afterparties with her brother and met Joffrey Baratheon.
They had stayed friends during the year from hell she spent with Baratheon and how his family turned it into a circus and she was on the front page of every tabloid in the world and almost had a mental breakdown because of it.
They had stayed friends when Sansa started doing small parts in small productions for BBC – using a stage name even if everyone knew who her parents were.
They stayed friends when she made her first horror movie as the girl who got murdered right after the first one and she dodged paparazzi and haters on social media with finesse.
They were still friends.
They would always be – even if she knew she had just lost the part to Sansa Stark and not because she was Ned Stark’s daughter.
No.
She could act.
Correction: she was fucking spectacular.
She wasn’t stupid. And she had eyes.
And she had a plan.
That was going to get interesting.
*
From Hollywood Reporter:
‘Future Perfect’ what went wrong?
Reviews are in for the sci-fi movie ‘Future Perfect’, starring Joffrey Baratheon, produced by Petyr Baelish and there is one question most of the reviewers have been asking: what exactly went wrong?
On paper the movie had everything in it to be a success: it stars the young and excellent Baratheon in the role of Rodrik Anderson a young physicist whom by altering one event starts a chain reaction that shatters his life, over and over.
It was one of the most anticipated movies of the year, produced by Baelish, whose aggressive marketing campaigns usually deliver.
The reshoots urged by the studios after the first screenings, the firing of the editor halfway through the post-production process only made things more apparent.
The movie is a disjointed, self-indulgent mess, only partially redeemed by Baratheon’s touching performance and Greyjoy fast-paced editing.
The question remains: what went wrong?
He was going to slap his nephew. He was not a violent person, not by any stretch of imagination; his mind had always been his sharpest weapon, but Jesus Christ, that brat was intolerable!
“You have to say no! You have the last word, I demand that you veto that bitch out of the movie!” Joffrey spat.
He rolled his eyes. Cersei would probably have an aneurysm if someone dared to touch her precious firstborn, which was not exactly helping him not to slap the little sod to oblivion.
The Starks were ten kinds of batshit insane, but he respected the fact that they had tried to protect their children from the business – it did bad things to people, children especially, and his nephew was living proof of it.
He was also living proof that having a good publicist who sold the image of the golden boy, humble and talented who still pined after his girlfriend was just drivel. Joffrey was talented, but talent in their family was dime a dozen: they were all good at what they did, Lannisters could never be anything less than perfect. Joffrey, however, was – cruel, selfish, vain, self-involved. He was a snivelling little shit and he was done with him.
He was a little person. His mother had died in childbirth and his father and sister hated him for that. He didn’t particularly care about their opinions, he had had decades of therapy to come to terms with that fact and writing helped him channel his issues (which he failed to mention in his interviews because no one truly wanted to know why was he so good, why his scripts were so visceral and dry and directors and producers almost came to fist to have him on board), nonetheless the sound of his hand slapping Joffrey’s smug little face was satisfying.
Take that, Sigmund.
Joffrey looked affronted. He looked like he was that close to bursting into tears and asking for his mummy, and Bronn, his ever-faithful p.a. and life saver, was trying very, very hard not to laugh.
“How dare you!” He said.
“That bitch,” he said, making air quotes, without even bothering to hide his hatred for that word, “should have had you arrested last year – she didn’t, you should shut the fuck up, boy!”
“I didn’t do anything! It was an accident!” Joffrey replied. He was scared, however. No one usually stood up to him because he had a temper, but he had started to suspect for a while that there might be more to it.
“She fell on your fist?” Bronn said behind him.
It had been ugly – and he had said the truth: Sansa Stark should have had Joffrey arrested, instead, it had taken another “accident” for her to wake up and finally dump him. He supposed she had had her reasons not to report him to the police and he was pretty sure that if Ned Stark ever met Joffrey there would be blood.
“Who the fuck –“ Joffrey started, but Tyrion interrupted him saying, “No. I will not veto her presence in the movie. And no, you cannot demand anything, nephew!”
“She doesn’t deserve that part!” Joffrey almost whined and Tyrion had to smile at the scoff he heard coming from Bronn.
“Perhaps, but only time will tell. Meanwhile, have you checked the reviews for Future Perfect?” He asked, realising that he had not moved at step even when Joffrey had stood up and crowded his space.
“You know I don’t read reviews,”
He was a good liar, he had taken after his mother after all – but they both knew that like most of what he said it was just a soundbite, something he had learned by heart, provided by his publicist. Joffrey had read the reviews and while his own were good, the movie was a total disaster – the second in a row.
“Wise choice, kid.” He said.
“You know I can make things difficult for her.”
He shrugged. Yes, he was aware. Just like he was aware that Sansa Stark’s screen test had been marvellous and Snow was currently butting heads with executives to have her in the movie. He had got texts from him asking for his support and he had already given him.
Lannisters kept their word. Well, most of them did. Actually, it was only Jamie and him who did it, but they were the ones that mattered.
“Yes, and I can make things hard for you in the real world, kid. Do you really want to try me?” He asked.
He knew, however, that Joffrey would be a complete and utter git to the Stark girl, like he had been when they were together – and his mother would lend a hand.
Great!
Time to warn Snow and prepare for war.
From: Tormund’s blog: Freefolk.
All hail! Daenerys Stormborn is back!
Alright, folks, you have probably read it everywhere by now: Snow and Lannister are making a movie together. We all know that when Lannister is involved in a production (and sources are telling me that he’s being a pain in the arse to the studios, backing up Snow’s choices and putting his foot down for his own) he is the de facto boss on set.
Lannister has been talking about writing a script about Queen Alysanne for years and if you’ve read the script you know how good it is – you also know that Snow is probably my favorite young director. Fire and Ice was a fucking masterpiece.
Today’s news is that Daenerys Stormborn has just signed up for Good Queen Alysanne. She is back, folks! And sources tell me that a reunion fans have wanted for years is probably going to take place very, very soon.
Which brings me to the main casting: Sansa Stark and Daario Naharis. If you have taken a look at the script you know that Naharis’ character is definitely not the main draw of the movie – it’s Professor Reid and the two women.
So, what the fuck is Ned Stark’s daughter doing in this movie? Why is she playing Queen Alysanne? I have nothing against Ms. Stark, I’m sure she is a good person and possibly, in time, she might become a half decent actress, but does she have the chops to play Alysanne, now? Whereas we know how good Dany is, she showed time and again the depth of her range as an actress.
Sources told me that Stark’s test blew everyone away.
I am sceptical. Snow surely knows how to use a camera, but so far he hasn’t been known for his skills as an actor’s director.
Time will tell, I guess.
Meanwhile, Baelish, who should perhaps stop marketing his movies within an inch of their lives and just, you know, go back to the times when he was a good, insightful movie mogul, is set to produce “Good Queen Alysanne”.
You bloody know what that means, right?
Theon wasn’t even listening to her; he was deep in layers upon layers of final cut pro and he had been replaying the same frame for over ten minutes.
“What am I doing?” She said.
Silence. On the screen, a man and a woman were walking hand in hand under a pouring rain and Theon was doing something with the saturation which had been totally fine to start with!
“Theon!” She said. And, for a moment, it felt like they were kids again and they were home, not in Theon’s flat in central London and Robb and he were ignoring her. God, she missed home and how things used to be!
Theon put off his glasses, ran a hand through his blonde hair, took another look at the frame on his laptop and finally turned and asked, “Why are you panicking?”
“Have you read the script?” She shot back.
Theon cocked an eyebrow. It was his best: “Don’t bullshit the king of bullshitters!” look.
“They’re already tearing me to pieces.” She said.
Theon crossed his arms over his chest; he was wearing a large grey jumper, his ratties pajamas and, apparently, he was living a moment of grunge nostalgia, judging by his hair.
“What did mum tell you?” He asked. And she was glad that he was calling her mom again. For a few years, he went through a phase where he called their parents with their given names – he still used his childbirth name on the job which had broken their father’s heart at first; but when he won his first BAFTA he was the first person Theon thanked, and to that day no one in the family had let him live that corny speech down, but she was glad to see her old Theon back.
“Mum told me to focus on the script and ignore the press –“ She said and shook her head. Her mother was a practical woman, she had been a child actress and she had a thick skin.
“What about dad?” Theon grinned and said, “Still hellbent on you sitting medical school?”
She grinned back. It was an old joke among them – the fact that their parents had wished for them to do anything but being in the business.
“No, dad told me that he would hire a publicist for me and to stop reading the internet!”
“What are you, twelve?” Theon asked.
“That’s what I told him! Then he said that I knew the solution to my problem.” She replied.
Theon shrugged, “He has a point, you know? Baratheon is a little shit, but – things will calm down.”
“Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Vulture, Vanity Fair are all sceptical about my casting, oh and don’t forget Freefolk! Tormund tore me a new one! All hail to Daenerys Stormborn’s come back – but what the fuck is Ned Stark’s daughter doing in that movie?”
“Nepotism is alive and kicking. Yep. Heard that one before.” Theon chimed in getting up from his chair (which had been a gift from Robb and her for his birthday) and went to the kitchenette.
“How did you guys do it?” She asked.
She could ask Robb – and she would, when he wouldn’t be dead on his feet after ten shows in a week and she wouldn’t feel like a bloody child!
“Well, Rob took the burnt of it, remember?” Theon answered when he got back, handing her a cup of tea.
“Is that why he doesn’t do movies?” She asked.
“Nah, he is an adrenaline junkie – always has been, theatre is what makes him tick.”
True. It was hard to reconcile the man she was seeing with the angry teenager she had grown up with. But one thing had stayed the same: Theon knew Robb better than anyone.
“And you?” She asked.
Theon sipped his tea, and seemed to ponder her question, “I’m good at my job, and I’m not a Stark, not really.”
“You are.” She said.
That was an old debate between them. She didn’t remember their parents ever treating Theon like he wasn’t their own flesh and blood. They adored him – like they loved all their children, but it was something Theon was only recently starting to come to terms with.
“I’m not brooding, Sansa – that is the truth for the press. And they never fail to mention it. But I got used to it. And you’ll get used to it too.”
“Arya wouldn’t care.” She replied with a pout.
“Arya would troll them within an inch of their lives on Twitter or deck someone like she did in Greece last year,” Theon said with a smirk.
Good thing that Arya didn’t want to have anything to do with acting, directing or the showbusiness; she would still give their parents a coronary attack given how reckless she was, how she didn’t care about appearances.
Her sister was the freest person she had ever met.
“So, Daenerys took the role?” Theon asked.
She nodded. She wouldn’t meet the actors for weeks; and she knew that the studios weren’t exactly thrilled with Jon Snow’s choice and the fact that he had banded with Tyrion Lannister to have her in the movie.
“Well, at least, there’s going to be one real actress in the movie.” She said with a sugary, sweet smile.
“Don’t be an idiot!” Theon said, throwing a pencil at her from his desk.
She dodged the pencil and said, “What, it’s what everyone is saying. It’s what she is probably thinking!”
“Oh God, you are twelve!” Theon groaned, he then looked at her with a serious gaze in his eyes and said, “Don’t be like that. We weren’t raised like that!”
She let out a sigh. She knew better than to assume about people. All her life people had had assumptions about her, about her family – and their parents had worked hard to let them be fair in their judgment of people.
“Sorry. I’m just –“ She trailed.
She was terrified. She had fallen in love with the script within five pages. She was lucky to have got them – she was nowhere near the level of stardom that would even let her peak at that sort of script. Being Ned Stark and Catherine Tully’s daughter opened doors for her.
That – or the fact that Tyrion Lannister had once been in the room with her when Joffrey had almost choked her to death after what had started like a playful argument.
Whatever the reason, the script had ended up in her agent’s email and then in hers.
She had fallen in love with the story and the characters and had studied hard for the screen test, harder than she had ever done – sure that she wouldn’t get the part, that someone with more experience or more beautiful or a combination of both would.
Jon Snow had been in the room – and had fed her lines. She had heard that he had done so for all the actresses that day, and she knew enough about movies to know how unheard of that was. But it had happened. Jon Snow who looked like a grizzly bear with an attitude, but had the kindest eyes she had ever seen had walked her through the screen test. She had been there. She had felt the cold, the wind, she had seen the lunar landscape described in the pages and felt the fear and outrage of her character.
She had never felt anything like that. She had never felt more alive, more real than in the moments she had become someone else.
“I heard your screen test was phenomenal,” Theon said.
“How is it – that you always know everything about everyone?” She asked. And damn, Theon still made the best tea she had ever tasted.
Theon wiggled his eyebrows. He was her big brother, her best friend and her favourite dork. She laughed because she couldn’t help it and then said, “Please, tell me Daenerys Stormborn is not a stuck up diva.”
“No, she isn’t. But why do you care? It’s not like you’re going to share a lot of screen time.” Theon replied.
Of course, Theon had read the script – because he was someone who mattered in town and not an absolute beginner like her.
“I mean it, sister – she’s a professional. Who did they hire for Professor. Reid?”
“Jorah Mormont.” She said with reverence.
Yes, she knew their father and Mormont had had a falling out because Ned Stark could be an uncompromising arsehole sometimes, but she had grown up watching Jorah Mormont and she was in awe that she would be in the same movie with him.
“Oh, dear…” Theon said.
That was weird. Her beloved brother usually swore like a sailor.
“What?” She asked.
Theon shook his head, and she knew she would have to get the answer out of him the hard way: tickling.
He saw that too because he sprinted out of his seat and she had to chase him, like when they were kids and for a while, she forgot all about Queen Alysanne, what the internet was saying about her courtesy of Joffrey’s fans, what the press was saying – it was liberating.
And she suspected that was exactly what Theon had wanted.
From Hollywood Reporter:
Breaking: Jorah Mormont to join Daenerys Stormborn, Sansa Stark, Daario Naaris in “Good Queen Alysanne”
Jorah Mormont has signed up to join the cast of “Good Queen Alysanne”, which is set to start production early next month. His casting did not come as a total surprise, especially after earlier last week Daenerys Stormborn was cast in the movie.
Mormont, is set to play Professor Reid, a pivotal role in the movie, penned by Academy Winner writer Tyrion Lannister. The drama set in both modern and past time will tell the story of Queen Alysanne Targaryen through flashbacks. Lannister who researched the Crown Archives for two years before starting to write the script has gone on record expressing his satisfaction with the casting.
Mormont, who was last seen on the big screen in the fourth instalment of the “Silent Evil” franchise two years ago, has mostly worked in theatre for the past few years.
Keep Reading…
“Remind me again: why didn’t you pick Alysanne’s role?” Missandei asked.
Daenerys sighed, her eyes never leaving the space where her son was playing.,
“Because Sansa Stark got the role.” She replied. As she had done previously to a lot of people, until she had decided to take a break.
“And why didn’t you read for the role?” Her friend and p.a. asked.
“Because –“ She paused. That was actually a good question, one that some journalist had already asked and to which she had given a parboiled answer cooked up by her publicist because she didn’t want to antagonize Ned Stark’s daughter before even meeting her.
“Because Tyrion asked me to read for Anne.” She replied eventually. It was only partially true. That had happened after Sansa had got the part. The truth was that she hadn’t got the pages to read for Alysanne. Her moment had come and gone – and when she should have done movie after movie to consolidate her position life had had different plans for her.
So, that movie, the talk of the town, was the first good script she had got for years. She would have read for it even if it was a blink and you miss it part.
“Don’t get me wrong – the part is good. But you should have read for Alysanne.” She said.
She smiled. Perhaps, but she loved her character and – she knew she would have to talk to Sansa Stark soon seeing as their characters were so interwoven. She would also have to stop labelling her as Ned Stark’s daughter. It was unfair. Tyrion would not have allowed her hiring if she hadn’t been good.
“So, did you talk to Mr. Mormont?” Missandei asked.
Wait – what?
The surprise must have been apparent on her face because her friend rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t you read your emails? The ones I forward you?”
She hadn’t for the past twenty four hours. She would start working soon and she wanted to relax and spend as much time with her son as possible.
“Should I have?” She asked.
“He got Professor. Reid part. Didn’t he even text you?” She said.
“You’ve got my phones, why don’t you check it out yourself?” Daenerys asked. And was surprised by the curt tone of her voice.
Missandei was too, but she knew her too well to comment on it.
“Sorry.” She said after a moment.
“He texted you.” Her friend said, as if nothing had happened, “’Looking forward to working with you again Mrs. Muir.’”
Daenerys smiled – and it felt like her real smile in a very long time. She had missed Jorah – it was surprising how much she had missed her co-star. The last time she had seen him there had been a studio meeting; they had talked about the remake of The Ghost and Mrs Muir based on their Broadway play, they had been happy and close and Tyrion Lannister had great ideas for the script and then –
And then both their lives had gone to hell in a handbasket.
They had texted from time to time, after. He had been at the funeral and she knew there was a picture out there, snapped by a paparazzo of them hugging after the funeral.
That had been the last time they had seen or touched each other. For some minor miracle, given her own problems, she hadn’t been dragged through the mud when Jorah’s life had been put into a meat grinder and fed to tabloids.
They hadn’t seen each other, however, only sparse texts through the years, which was in itself not uncommon, except that each of the text she got from him never failed to put a smile on her face or make her feel – alive, not brittle and living in a sort of limbo.
He would play Professor Reid. And – she would kill Tyrion Lannister.
I wrote Anne with you in mind.
He had, she was sure of that and in hindsight, she should have known that no one else could play Professor Reid but Jorah and she didn’t understand why she was feeling the beginning of a panic attack just thinking about texting her old co-star back, that time.
Missandei was looking at her, she knew; she had been her p.a. for years, she was a close friend, her family – and she probably would remind her that just because there had been rumours when Jorah and her had worked together and he had bent over to protect her when both their lives had gone to hell, she should stop being childish.
The truth, however, was complicated, and she couldn’t deal with it. Not yet.
So, she replied to Jorah’s text, making sure that not even Missandei could understand how hard it was not to smile and panic at the same time.
Captain Gregg, it will be a pleasure and an honour to work with you again. We should also meet for coffee one of these days and actually do that this time! Mrs M-
She let out a breath, handed back her phone to Missandei who was observing her and got up from her chair to go play with her son. She smiled when she heard the sound of an incoming text, but she didn’t ask for the phone.