Cersei has more in common with Thanquol than with Rhaenyra and I mean that as a compliment.
George: “I’m gonna have a character who’s pretty much a skaven but is also a hot blonde chick who fucks her brother who looks like the male version of her and she’ll have a Daffy Duck/Bugs Bunny dynamic with her midget brother…….. who she hates. I’m a genius.”
I'd venture to say that without the actors who breathed life into these performances, GRRM's pedestrian writing would've never gained the worldwide recognition it has now.
Here are some examples:
Tywin: In the books, Tywin is a petty bastard who is easily offended by things like laughter. In the show, Charles Dance portrays Tywin as a strong-willed badass, the textbook definition of a Machiavellian. Not to mention his scenes with Arya gave him some depth and a more nuanced look at his perspective.
Cersei: In the books, Cersei is basically a walking, talking case of Penis Envy, a shallow and spiteful idiot. In the show, Lena Heady makes her more nuanced and gives her some emotional depth, and she even manages to play people like the Iron Bank dude, the High Sparrow, and the Tyrells, in true Machiavellian fashion. She'd have torn Dany to shreds if Drogon didn't have plot armor.
Viserys the First: In the books, Viserys the Furst was just some filler king who didn't do much aside from not realizing how fucked his family is and how it would start the Dance of Dragons. Paddy Considine's performance reinterpreted the character as a genuinely good person slowly being crushed by the weight of his own absolute power and the bottom-feeders of his court. Even GRRM had to admit that Paddy's performance transformed the character.
