HBO is gearing up for medieval fantasy series The Game of Thrones, due April 17 and based on hit book series. The project is generating intense interest among fans of the genre, and that could be because fantasy projects are relatively rare on television: "The success of Lord of the Rings movies shows there's an enormous appetite for fantasy when it's well done," says Thrones author George R.R. Martin.
The show is "not a children's fantasy; it's sexy and it's violent and it's brutal," says writer and executive producer David Benioff. "And none of the characters are safe." Mark Addy stars along with Peter Dinklage and Rings' Sean Bean. Does Bean worry about being typecast? No. "I enjoy playing these kind of roles, riding horses and swinging swords and wearing beards," Bean says. -- Gary Levin