Another huge piece has fallen into place for the HBO pilot of A GAME OF THRONES — we have signed Sean Bean to play the part of Lord Eddard Stark.

For King Robert I Baratheon, we’ve got Mark Addy, a veteran British actor of stage and screen that many of you may remember from his fine turn in A KNIGHT’S TALE.

This is wicked news. The casting alone for this work feels more like they are preparing for a movie, not a TV show. It also makes me extremely happy that they are bringing in some serious talent to give these characters the dramatic weight that they’d need to work as well on screen as they do in the books.

The rest of the news can be read over on Martin’s LiveJournal, Not A Blog.