Naomi Watts to star in ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel

Naomi Watts has signed on to play the lead in a Game of Thrones prequel series.

The Oscar-nominated actor will be playing "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret" in the pilot from Kick-Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman. The show is co-created by original author George R R Martin and is one of five Game of Thrones projects in the works at HBO.

Goldman’s as-yet-untitled drama will take place thousands of years before Game of Thrones and “will chronicle the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour”. An official logline from the network reads: “Only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend – it’s not the story we think we know.”

Last year, Goldman hinted that her series will include humour and gore. "Those are things I love, and things I like to do," she told Digital Spy. "It would be remiss of me not to put them in."

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The show, if ordered to series, will not air until at least a year after the end of Game of Thrones which completes its run in 2019 and has been described as “six one-hour movies”.

It's the second small screen role recently announced for Watts, following on from news that The Ring star will play Gretchen Carlson in the Showtime series on disgraced Fox CEO Roger Ailes, starring alongside Russell Crowe, Seth MacFarlane and Sienna Miller. Her last show, critically panned drama Gypsy, was cancelled by Netflix after one season.

She was also seen recently in the small screen revival of Twin Peaks and will next star opposite Mel Gibson in action thriller Boss Level. – Guardian