User blog comment:Ausir/Stannis and Melisandre cast/@comment-4037187-20110729021302

Tonight I watched a (Dutch) film in which Carice van Houten plays the main part - a film based on a book that I don't particularly like. Even against these odds, she managed to completely persuade me. She can convey a wealth of meaning, emotion, ambivalence or context with a minimal gesture. A slight stiffening of the shoulders, a brief look, a mere hint of a smile... She's able to convey panic or despair while maintaining an apparent veneer of sanity and composure, or embodying a character that is completely psychotic and yet emphatic.

In an earlier film, Carice played a woman who actually was a cat - and she pulled that off with amazing ease and conviction. When rubbing her nose she wouldn't use her fingers but her wrist, making you think that she used her paw.. She would cock her head in such a way that you'd feel the urge to rub her ears. If somebody touched her shoulders, you would see the slight shiver running along her spine. If she sat down on a chair, you wouldn't be sure if she was going to curl up, lick her tail or jump in your face.

So yes, I'm very much looking forward to her interpretation of Melisandre - a priestess and a fanatic, a manipulator and a believer, a conjurer and a conspirator, a guardian and the mother of shadows.

Cheers, Carice! Looking forward to seeing you in Game of Thrones.