Even Martin Agrees One Game of Thrones Character Outmatches the Books
George RR Martin has not held back on his criticism of some of the later seasons of Game of Thrones, but he still seems to revel in the fact that his literary success spawned one of TV's greatest franchises.
In an interview with Sky Atlantic, the author said he has a "certain affection" for the "purists" who were always keen for there to be no deviation between the page and the screen.
But he also acknowledged that there are some characters who were portrayed better in the TV version of GoT than they had been in his novels.
One of these was the show's version of Renly Baratheon which he described as "somewhat different" from his. But he had particular praise for the portrayal of Osha, the wildling girl played by Natalia Tena, who became a companion to Bran Stark.
Some differences between the books and the TV show were, he said, "due to the scriptwriters" – including himself – who had a particular vision for the screen. Others were more to do with the way the actor portrayed the character. Tena's portrayal of Osha fell into the latter category according to the author.
Martin described how his Osha "fulfils a certain function" but she failed to engage a reader in wanting to know more about the characters. The TV version of Osha, though, in the opinion of Martin, "mesmerised" and was a "far more interesting character".
Indeed, so impressed was he with the way that Natalia Tena brought the character to life that he said he would need to "make her far more interesting" when he brings Osha back in future books.
A London-born actor and singer, her appearance as Osha wasn't the first time Tena had taken a literary character onto the screen. In 2007, she played Nymphadora Tonks in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – a role she reprised in The Half-Blood Prince (2009) and parts 1 & 2 of The Deathly Hallows (2010 & 2011).
And in 2022, she portrayed Rebekah Vardy in the UK courtroom show Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, which was a retelling of the story of the real-life spat between the wives of two famous English footballers.
Should Martin ever get the rest of his book series finished, and if his version of events in Westeros ever makes it to our TV screens, it seems likely she'd be asked to make a comeback as Osha, given how highly her performance was rated by the author.