Natalie Dormer starred as Margaery Tyrell from Game of Thrones season 2 until her death at the end of season 6, but she originally auditioned for a different character. Casting is a major reason for Game of Thrones‘ success, which several of the actors doing incredible jobs of bringing their book counterparts to life, and Dormer is no exception. Margaery is introduced in Game of Thrones season 2, episode 3, “What Is Dead May Never Die” as the wife of self-proclaimed King Renly Baratheon, but becomes much more than that.
Margaery is one of the show’s biggest triumphs in terms of adapting characters from the page to the screen, with Game of Thrones‘ version arguably even surpassing the one in A Song of Ice and Fire. Part of that is the ability to flesh the character out further, since she isn’t a point-of-view person in George R.R. Martin’s books, but a lot of it comes from Dormer’s performance. Intelligent, cunning, and also hilarious, her Margaery is more than capable of plotting with her grandmother, Olenna Tyrell, and matching wits with Cersei Lannister, allowing for some of the show’s most memorable moments.
While Dormer is such a great fit for Margaery that it’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing that role (and looks remarkably like a young Diana Rigg too), the actress originally wanted to play someone else. It had previously been revealed that Margaery wasn’t the first character she auditioned for, though it wasn’t confirmed which other role she wanted. Since it was for season 2, the options were somewhat limited, and speculation included Melisandre, Ygritte, and Talisa Maegyr. In James Hibberd’s book Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series, Dormer confirms that Melisandre was the character she initially wanted to play, saying:
“I’ve never spoke about this previously: I didn’t audition for Margaery Tyrell originally. I auditioned for Melisandre. Then I got a call from my agents saying, ‘They loved you but want you to audition for another role.’ And I’m like, ‘Damn, this Melisandre role looks f**king cool!’ Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff] said, ‘There’s this character Margaery, and we’re still exploring what we’re going to do with her.’ You look back and realize Melisandre couldn’t have been anyone else, Carice [van Houten] did an amazing job, but I always had a chuckle on the couch when a Melisandre scene came on. Margaery brought a very sort of modern PR kind of angle [to the ensemble]. She was canvassing the common people’s hearts and minds. I tried to think of her as like a hybrid of Michelle Obama and like a Kate Middleton or Princess Diana.”
It’s pretty easy to imagine Dormer in the role of Melisandre. While the two characters have different arcs and parts to play, there are similarities between them: smart, shrewd, and seductive women who are able to bend the ears and wills of Kings in pursuit of their respective goals. Dormer likely would’ve made for a good Melisandre, but it’s also hard to argue things worked out for the best. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else bringing what she did to Margaery, while van Houten is equally great as the Red Priestess, and in the later season plays the character a little more weary that might’ve been missing in Dormer’s portrayal.
It is a shame that Dormer’s time on Game of Thrones was cut short in season 6, as seeing even more of Margaery’s battles with Cersei would’ve been welcome, but she made the most of the time she had. Dormer is also among a long list of Game of Thrones actors who originally tried out for other characters too – Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), and Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton) all auditioned for Jon Snow, for instance, while Liam Cunningham confirms in Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon that he first went for the part of Jorah Mormont (which went to Iain Glen) – but in all cases, the castings worked out for the best.
