We’re now moving away from the ‘ordinary actors’ to the disappointments. It might seem like scarcely an improvement, but the distinction is important. What follows are actors who definitely did it right, played their part well through and through... but still left me wanting for more. Perhaps I expected more of them. Some of them are well-known actors/actresses, some had fascinating and complex characters who had a lot of potential that did not realize completely. In any case, this tier is utterly personal and plays with my expectations prior to watching the season/series, so I don’t expect you to agree with a lot of who is there. Things should and will get better once we reach the next tier.
25. Natalia Tena (Osha)
First potentially controversial ranking incoming. Obviously, there’s quite a big difference in talent between this tier and the previous one, seeing as we start things off with Tena. As I said, though, this is playing with my expectations and how I see the characters being portrayed, so obviously things might get a bit personal. But I digress.
Now, I know what Tena was aiming for here. Osha’s a wildling, so she went for some sort of a wild performance. Every time she’s on screen, she always looks like she could ‘break loose’ at any moment – the glint of madness in her eye, the posture, it’s all there. And I’ll grant her this: it’s done well. Thing is: that’s not Osha. That’s not the wildlings either.
We’ve seen that with Ygritte, the Lord o’ Bones and the rest of ‘em, and I’ll wager we’ll see more of it next season: wildlings aren’t blood-crazed barbarians or savages – they’re just human beings who happen to live on the northern side of the wall. Now I know you could say that it’s probably just the writers who wrote her this way and changed her character, but I would beg to differ. The writers changed Shae’s character, for instance, so I didn’t fault Kekilli for acting a bit nicer than in the books. That’s just the script.
Here, Osha is supposed to be this down to earth, very practical, no-nonsense, “I don’t care if you’re a high lord or a peasant, so don’t act all high and mighty” kind of woman. The script’s going in the same direction (just look at her spiel to Theon in the first season). Tena’s just not conveying that, though somewhat ‘dumbing’ the character down instead.
I don’t consider myself a stickler for fidelity to the source material. This is TV – if the writers, or the actress, or whoever decide that the characters would work better that way on television, I won't mind. IF it’s done right. You might have noticed Littlefinger hasn’t appeared yet, despite my rant against him in the other topic. Don’t expect to see him on this tier either. They (either Gillen or the writers) changed his character – not necessarily for the better, but the result’s still fine. Not so for Osha, who loses a whole lot of depth for... nothing much, really.
Best scene: Nothing particularly strikes me, I must admit. I guess her seducing Theon (as well as pretending to switch sides) back in Episode 6 or 7 worked well for me, so let’s go with that. She has been fairly consistent as far as talent/presence goes - it's just her choice of portrayal that bothers me.
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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore