The co-star of ‘House of the Dragon’, the prequel to ‘Game of Thrones’, has experience playing princes without a throne
Last Sunday’s premiere of the prequel to ‘Game of Thrones’, entitled ‘The House of the Dragon’, has managed to break all the records in the history of platforms with more than ten million viewers connecting for the first episode, according to figures published the same day by HBO and the Nielsen company. Their expectation will increase exponentially, since the audience of any premiere for a platform represents 20% of the total audience of any series. ‘The house of the dragon’ beat Netflix that had, thanks to its series ‘The Sandman’, with the audience record.
‘Game of thrones’ presented the public with a medieval and fantastic universe where several families populated those lands. Set nearly 200 years before the events of the main series, ‘House of the Dragon’ depicts the distant ancestors of the original series’ families, albeit with the addition of lesser-known clans that revolve around the ‘iron throne’. At first ‘House of the Dragon’ focuses mainly on the members of the Targaryen saga, the current ruling family and their closest allies. The younger brother and heir presumptive of King Viserys Targaryen is a brutal warrior, Prince Daemon, who serves as the commander of the King’s Landing City Guard. The prince has his eye on the throne, but his brothers don’t think he’s fit to rule. Behind the character of Daemon is the British actor Matt Smith, whom the public remembers for his performances in ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The Crown’, where he played Prince Philip of Edinburgh.
-Do you feel the pressure of starring in a story with so many expectations?
-I have seen nine of the ten episodes of the first season and I feel a mixture of emotions. As an actor you’re always nervous in the early stages of a job because you don’t know how it’s going to be received, especially when it’s based on books and characters that the public loves.
-What would be the main differences between ‘Game of Thrones’ and its prequel?
-We tell the drama from one place, while in ‘Game of Thrones’ the plot takes place in different settings. Here everything focuses on a family, on its dynamics. That said, I think all the other elements are present: war, love, passion and clashes. It is also different in many ways. Times have changed and technology has advanced a lot. We also have directors who have never done television before and are doing it now. ‘The house of the dragon’ must be seen as an original series, world and time.
Locker room
«I was uncomfortable with the wig, how heavy the armor was and how hot it was»
-Sex again has a great weight in the story. Are you comfortable shooting those kinds of scenes?
-No actor likes to shoot sex scenes because you feel very exposed. We have worked all the scenes with an intimacy coordinator who helped us choreograph every detail. I would put a question mark over more sex scenes in the future, but this is the world that George RR Martin has written and I have committed to. I have nothing against.
-Apart from the sex scenes, is there anything that bothered you on the set?
-The wig, how heavy the armor was and how hot it was, how difficult it was to sit down to lunch dressed like that. Every afternoon, when I took it off, I felt fireworks in my body.
-Did you get a head injury in a fight scene?
-I have received so many blows (jokes). Since I started shooting in April until now I have learned to fight like a professional. The fight scenes are like a dance that is learned with practice. The more you practice, the better your swordsmanship gets.
-You became famous with the character of Doctor Who. How does it feel to take on more sinister roles?
I think it’s important to maintain a diverse career as an actor. We look for challenges that show that we have the ability to play all kinds of characters. I loved playing Doctor Who, but after the series ended I was actively looking for different roles and so I worked on ‘The Crown’ or ‘Last Night in Soho’.
Characters
“Prince Philip and Daemon are blond, mavericks, and neither reigns”
-In ‘The Crown’ he played Prince Felipe. What do the Targaryens and the Windsors have in common?
-All families are dysfunctional. The Duke of Edinburgh and Daemon are blonde, both are mavericks in some ways, and neither is on the throne. I guess that’s how they look alike. However, it is true that in one case we are in an intensely fantastic world while in the other it is about real lives… What I can say is that the two characters are very interesting to play.
-Do you feel more responsibility in the role of a flesh and blood prince or a fictional one?
-The pressure is different, but there is also much more material to feed on. It is a very interesting process, because you want to be faithful to reality without forgetting your own inspiration as an artist.
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