George RR Martin on His Favorite Characters in Fiction

A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones Author George R. R. Martin on his Favorite Fictional Characters (2007)

[thomasfoster]

Sean Bean did amazing as Boromir. They are essentially written the same in the book in the show, but Sean Bean added so much.

[MostorAstrakan]

"I have to get into their heads, *be* them, rather than rise above them as an Authorial God."
That struck a chord with me.

[kingofthesharks]

Let's hope George has the lifespan of a Dunedain like Aragorn, we're gonna need it for those last books...

[GKinWor]

of course grrm likes boromir, who else could play ned lol

[RyansFine]

To hear George R R Martin say he thought he couldn't be as good as Tolkien is inspiring and humbling. Cause frankly I felt the same way after reading A Song of Ice and Fire those books are on a completely different level writing wise than most stories out there. He must have learned a lot since then

[kaoutherguelmame]

Martin doesn't like perfect characters. Clearly explains how he writes his characters

[Winningrose]

Brilliant monologue on the subject of genre boundaries and the strength of fiction being about conveying emotion.

[jaroslavbelohlavek]

When you realize Littlefinger is basically Gatsby.

[Sagittariuz]

When I watched Game of Thrones I felt like Jon Snow was built up to become that Aragorn archetype. A man who didn't want to rule over people, but who developed the skills to fight, to negotiate, to make peace and to lead, because it's necessary. In the end unites the rival people against the common threat from the north, and become king in the end.
It was so saddening to see his character arch being butchered in the last two seasons of the show.

[jamethlawthon]

I'm listening to Fellowship of the Ring and realized I'd completely forgotten how suspicious and intimidating Strider was when he first shows up.

[Liam-yruf]

Martin is definitely a compelling writer and speaker! His books draw you in quite effortlessly and make you want to keep turning the pages.

[zackthezabarak]

This is one of my favorite interviews from Martin.

[leftyfourguns]

What a smart guy. I think his experience and education in journalism really did give him an edge over his contemporaries. Journalists are taught to "find the story" in a new incident. "Find the emotion", and that's exactly what GRRM does with his books, rather than getting wrapped up in the "detail" of his worlds.

[danielleos]

i love seeing George expressing like that about JRR Tolkien. Kinda motivates me to finish my book and feel like i can accomplish what he has

[eupowa]

So humble. He feels the need to credit other people every few moments. And so inteligent too. Love listening to him.

[brian]

The thing about Boromir that makes him my favourite character (other than that he’s played by Richard Sharpe) is that he’s the most like us. He’s the only one of our main characters in the books who doesn’t have some kind of plot armour: Hobbits and Ring-resistance; Gandalf, Strider, Galadriel, et al. and being wise enough not to take the risk; Faramir and just not giving a shit for no reason; Tom Bombadil and probably being one of the Valar or legit Eru Iluvatar.

Boromir falls in the presence of the One Ring. We too would fall.

[johnwallwizards]

I can never find a video of George talking specifically about Jon Snow. About his character, his decisions, his Conflictions etc.

[Civ]

I love how the second half of this video is just GRRM shitting on literature elitists

[hadirmaamouri]

Ned Stark was a brilliant character .. if integrity was a person, it would be him and it shows by how he was remembered in the following seasons of GoT .. and it just hit me that Ned was acted by Sean Bean, who was Boromir in LOTR

[Zehahahaa]

George continues to amaze me. Some fans are very mean and crude to the ideas of George and him as an individual. I believe he deserves more respect and admiration, it’s sad that today so many fans treat writers and creators of their loved series, movies & books with such a level of disrespect and foulness. It’s tragic, they don’t realize how much toxicity they bring to the fandoms and communities, but overall the Author.