I still think they should just use a dude to play Brienne. Its a lot easier to find a large man then a large woman, a big linebacker type dressed as a woman should be plenty ugly and I imagine the hollywood make-up folks are skilled enough at their craft that they could plausibly turn a guy into an ugly looking woman. And it would be a pretty unique role for some up and coming actor.
Psst: post #7.
Dang, sorry lol. My picture was more Melisandrish though!
Not particularly how I imagined Stannis, personally.
Balon Greyjoy, on the other hand…
That’s your part for Ron Perlman right there! 
Agreed, Dale would make an excellent Greyjoy. As for Stannis, maybe the guy who played Charles Widmore’s younger self on LOST, David S. Lee (also one of the best examples of “younger version of a key character” casting I’ve seen)? He certainly has the look of a Baratheon, if he were to dye his hair a bit darker.
I can’t recall enough of his role on LOST to know if he has the acting chops, but he has a moderate IMDB resume of mostly TV roles. Mebbe he’d work.
I’m going to box this spoiler because a few characters have allegedly been cast–one confirmed by GRRM yesterday.
[spoiler]Brienne is confirmed to be Gwendoline Christie. She’s a bit too pretty for the role, but I imagine can be uglied up somewhat. The important thing is that she’s a full inch taller than Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. I was worried that they’d cast someone too short for the role. Gwendoline was a fan favorite for the pick.
Asha Greyjoy is rumored to have been renamed to Yara (presumably to not confuse her with Osha the Wildling) and cast by a relative newbie by the name of Gemma Whelan. I like the look of her for this part, although she’s not quite as hard as I would have expected.
Finally, one of Davos Seaworth’s sons, Matthos, has been cast–the actor is another relative newbie with mostly stage credits named Kerr Logan. What’s important about this isn’t necessarily the role, which I assume will be minor, but the fact that we can look at him and try to figure out a Davos that can conceivably be his father.[/spoiler]