The hugely-anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel is almost here. “House of the Dragon”, which has been created by George RR Martin and Ryan J Condal for HBO, is based on Martin’s 2018 novel, “Fire & Blood”.
The offering is set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones”.
It explores the beginning of the end of House Targaryen, unpacking the war of succession, which is also known as the “Dance of the Dragons”.
Of course, it is helmed by a stellar cast of Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen; Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen; Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen; Olivia Cooke as Lady Alicent Hightower; Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower ( Alicent's father and the Hand of the King); Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka the "Sea Snake"; Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen; Fabien Frankel as skilled swordsman Ser Criston Cole and Sonoya Mizuno as dancer Mysaria, who is also Prince Daemon’s greatest ally.
True to the brutish trope of the series, there’s plenty of violence, sex and battles as backstabbing, lust and dark ambitions take root in misguided ways.
In a recent interview, Smith and Frankel unpacked what the series entails and why it deserves all the hype.
Smith was asked about slipping into the skin of such an unpredictable character.
Without hesitation, he responded: “I loved it. I loved his unpredictability. That was the one thing that drew me to Daemon in the first place. You know, you never quite know where he is going to go.
“Even as an actor, it affords you a great deal of invention. It’s nice as an actor when you don’t quite know where a scene is going to take you.”
When a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin, which predicts greatness or madness. In his case, it’s not revealed.
He added: “I think his coin is still in the air. It’s still spinning and you never know, it’s never hit the ground. It’s in some vortex going. It’s stuck. That is the thing about Daemon, you never know. I think both things are sort of equally entwined with him. He’s a great madman for sure.”
A role in the series demands much of an actor, especially from a physical perspective.
Fabien admitted: “We tried to go to the gym to stay fit as there are a lot of fighting scenes for the both of us. Certainly, in the first episode, where we have that big fight, we trained for it with the stunt team.”
Smith added: “The most challenging for me was having to put on a wig every morning because I’m really fidgety. Even though it looks great in the end product, I find that quite tough.
“At the risk of sounding boring and repetitive, like my friend Fabien over here, I think the great aspect of this show has been the brilliant, brilliant, and talented cast. And laughs we have had with Paddy, Rhys and Emma.”
Given his popularity on “Doctor Who”, Smith was asked about the similarities between the two characters, given the former iconic role.
He said: “I wish Daemon was as witty as Doctor Who. I’m trying to push it that way. I suppose the kind of similarities are that they are maverick outsiders to a certain degree.
“And there is a ruthless edge to both of them. Fundamentally, one is a pacifist looking for good and the other one is just an agent of chaos, who is locked in his dark world, really.”
As for whether they approached anyone from “Game of Thrones” before shooting the series, Fabien admitted: “I didn’t seek advice from anyone from ‘Game of Thrones” but I definitely did seek advice from members of this cast.
“I sought a lot of advice from Matt, Paddy and Rhys because they have been doing it for so long and so well for so long. I remember having difficulty with a scene and how to play it, it wasn’t working, and I called Paddy and said: ‘What do you think?’
“He gave me advice and it was incredibly useful. These guys have between them a lifetime of experience. I have only been doing this for about 4 to 5 years.”
When asked whether he found the violence and sex too graphic, Smith said: “It is a core feature to the universe because that is what George wrote. Are things too graphic? I don’t know because all you can do is represent the material as honestly as possible.
“That is the world we are representing. What you don’t want to do is fall into gratuity and be there for no reason. In this medieval society, things were violent and brutal. I am not worried that it is too graphic but I don’t want it to be gratuitous.”
That said, what has grabbed a lot of headlines is Smith’s feelings about the sex scene in episode one.
He admitted: “We did work with an intimacy co-ordinator. To be honest, I didn’t love that scene. I didn’t love the way they were having sex. That was the way it was set up. I didn’t love it.
“There was something about it that I just didn’t love. I felt there was a deeper more interesting way of telling that physical story but it wasn’t meant to be.”
As for unlocking his character’s natural charisma to darker issues, Smith admitted: “Gosh, I think I’m still unlocking those doors of Daemon because there is a lot going on. There is a huge fragility in an underlying weird sense of loyalty and value that underpins Daemon, however, distorted that may be.”
“House of the Dragon” airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) at 3am on Monday, August 22, and again at .9.30pm.