CONGRATULATIONS to Kit on his Emmy nomination!

I agree, it is so deserved. He improved so much since season 1. He is one of the best physical actors on the show and the range of emotions he showed during Battle of the Bastards was just amazing. I'm happy that the episode itself was nominated too.

The physical acting is amazing, clearly he has worked so hard at it. Did all his own action scenes again this year I read. I also saw an article mentioning that during the editing of The Battle of the Bastards, the director thought some techie had inserted a 'speed bump' into one of Kit's sword swinging scenes..turned out no had done so, he really was wielding the sword that fast. He's like a dancer now. Also admired how he faced that charge with those real horses galloping at him. No CGI there!

But more than the action bits I love his non-fight scenes and the nuance he puts into every darn thing he does. Little things this season kept amazing me - like when Jon Snow was being told about the burning of Shireen, Kit was filmed from the side, listening, and you can see his jaw clench and his darn carotid pulse. Makes you wonder about his "method" (for lack of a better word) and how much he is into every scene. My fave scene of the year was the execution of the mutineers and how as he slowly walked to stand in front of one after another about to be hung, how he raised and lowered his gaze, cocked his head, looked pensive, decided, torn. How he used his shoulders, posture, expressions. That scene was just masterful - and I do believe it was "Oathbreaker" not "BotB", that HBO submitted for the Emmy nom.

That too, I guess is "physical acting" but Kit's been able to complicate the comparatively simple Jon Snow with his acting choices that go so deep into the inner life of the character.

Nice to see Peter D nommed again - that scene he did with the green screen dragons was incredible. You can put that guy in front of a concrete block and he is going to bounce off it. Wish Nicolaj had been nommed as well. He was the other "lead support" actor I thought did a totally bang up job this season.

But Kit, wow, I can watch his scenes over and over and every darn time, notice something different that he did that was subtle and beautifully accomplished. I'm pretty much in the minority on the GoT forum as to the quality of his acting, but I have seen all his filmed work and I believe he already has considerable acting chops and will only get better. He's climbing way UP my actors' pantheon. We'll never see this actor "phone anything in".



BELIEVE https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FtHuxbY9WUw/maxresdefault.jpg

I agree with you, I think Kit was the most standout actor of the season. Very well deserved Emmy nomination.

Well. You have more to say than any of the dunces on the Thrones board.

That too, I guess is "physical acting" but Kit's been able to complicate the comparatively simple Jon Snow with his acting choices that go so deep into the inner life of the character.

Could you expand on this?

It's this actor's "choices" (for lack of a better word) that always ring true to me. I could give you a few examples from every scene he is in, but since I mentioned this one earlier.

Look at 2:11 on this video. Closely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx4sbgenMl4

Liam is terrific here with his anger and grief breaking his voice and Carice is equally so in her plaintive but assertive self-defense. All Kit has to do is stand by and listen and looked ticked off. But the way he stands, his shoulders just slightly forward, he blinks a few times and it looks like there are tears in his eyes. Then the jaw clenching when Mel says "Jon Snow is alive because of the Lord of Light"..all of a sudden you see not just anger but guilt in Jon, and this one "look" helps you understand why Jon did not execute Mel, but banished her. You've got two great actors pulling out all the stops in their confrontation, but the silent Kit just rivets you.

Look at the BoftheB scene when Jon's horse is shot from under him in those few moments before he draws his sword to face the on-coming charge, from 1:00 to 1:25.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOIvD5mlow

How did that make you feel? How did it make you feel about what Jon feels? We know he does not want to die because he has already and knows there is "nothing" after death. He has had to face the true existential reckoning that a man has only his acts to define his life, and many of the purest of those acts lead to failure. All he has at that moment is the knowledge he is going to die again, and finally, since he has told Mel not to bring him back, but the one thing he can control is the WAY he dies. With honor and courage, staring it down. And in his face you can see it all flash before his eyes; in his posture you can feel the both the resignation and the resolve - he's chosen to die as Ned would. When I saw that scene, all I could think of is those few seconds summed up six complete seasons of "Starks". :)

Frankly, I think he is amazing, and has been from the very start, yet growing all the time. When people talk about actors "inhabiting a role", this actor is a fine example. I have no idea if he thinks it all out, if it comes intuitively, or a combination, if the authenticity is based on some patch of experience, solely observation, understanding of the character or a blend. But it's always there, like the subtext in a great novel that forces you to interact with the story in a very emotional way.

I highly recommend turning off the sound and watching what he does - how nothing is ever over-stated, but always feel like "truth".

Anyway, it'd have been a crime if he had been overlooked this season. Just as it was that NCW was. Imo, Nicolaj showed his finest acting this year.

YES!!! http://i.imgur.com/10HrtrB.jpg

Thanks for taking the time. That's an interesting POV. I agree that what makes for effective acting is the audience reaction, and Jon Snow is a very sympathetic character.

Do you think he can win out over Jonathan Banks of Better Call Saul? I think it comes down to those two. Banks has a much talkier role.

I have not watched Better call Saul so have no opinion on Banks. I like Mendelsohn a lot but this season on Bloodline (the first six epis I saw anyway) he was only shown in flash back with very minimal screen time.

YES!!! http://i.imgur.com/10HrtrB.jpg

Fair enough.

Not everyone's wheels spin off awards seasons.