‘Game of Thrones’: Red Wedding star replaces ‘Doctor Who’ mystery man in ‘The Strain’
Do you like it when all of your genre favorites collide and form some sort of messy situation? Then this story is probably right up your alley then, since we are talking about everything from “Doctor Who” to “Game of Thrones” to “The Strain,” the vampire drama (which strangely reminds us of zombies) that is going to be coming on FX next year following its series order from earlier this week.
In one of the Guillermo del Toro series’ first orders of business, they have already made a move to recast the role of Professor Abraham Setrakian, which was originally played by John Hurt. If you’re a Whovian, then you know that Hurt is playing the Doctor who abdicated the responsibilities of the name in the upcoming 50th anniversary special on Saturday night. Just that should have him enough geek cred to really not do another show the rest of his life, but that’s not the reason why the change is being made.
As for who is stepping into his shows, it is a man in David Bradley who fans of the George R.R. Martin adaptation know as Walder Frey, the man who (season 3 spoiler alert!) was responsible in part for the mass murder of Robb and Catelyn Stark (along with many others) at the gruesome Red Wedding. Don’t make any assumptions on his future on the HBO series thanks to this casting, since one of the great things about being on “Game of Thrones” is that it’s not exactly one that you need to be on set for the vast majority of the year thanks to the way in which it is filmed.
In “The Strain,” Professor Abraham is a Holocaust survivor who lives in Spanish Harlem, and may just be the only person who knows how to stop a mysterious and deadly outbreak that is causing vampirism. He’s going to be a big part of the series, which at least has one other name in it in Sean Astin that will make geek-friendly audiences very happy. Given that del Toro is involved as a producer here, we’re crossing our fingers for a Ron Perlman appearance someday.
What do you think about this recast, and are you excited to see the show? Share some of your thoughts below!
Photo: FX