ABSTRACT
The stellar acting makes Game of Thrones believable, and significantly the cast draws extensively from the world of Shakespearean performance. With respect to acting, the most obvious separation between Shakespeare and Game of Thrones is the divide between stage and screen. Sure, Shakespearean directors have their goals, but the actors also hold a great deal of agency in deciding how to bring a character to life. Julian Glover started his comments with a close association between Shakespearean and Game of Thrones roles: I hope I approach them all in the same way. After stage versus screen, the next great divide between Shakespeare and Game of Thrones is the language. Using Shakespearean actors to make the fantastic realistic is not limited to Game of Thrones. Star Wars works because Shakespearean actors made the mythology believable. Whereas Shakespeare is replicable in many different ways—open to modification and repetition with difference—Game of Thrones is a one-time artwork, at least to Glover.
