'House of the Dragon': Matt Smith wasn't exactly convinced of joining prequel until he heard of Paddy Considine's casting
'Doctor Who' star Matt Smith admits he was intimidated when he was offered the role of Prince Daemon Targaryen in HBO's 'House of the Dragon'. The British actor relived the initial hesitation in joining the famed 'Game of Thrones' spin-off, while also adding that Paddy Considine starring in the fantasy drama was one of the "real draw."
Based on George RR Martin’s 'Fire & Blood', the series, set 200 years before the events of 'Game of Thrones', tells the story of House Targaryen. In an interview with THR, Smith spoke about how the role came about. “I was in a car park and my agent said, ‘There’s this part in this new show that is a prequel to ‘Game of Thrones.’ And I was like, ‘Ohhh. I don’t know. It’s a tough one, isn’t it? It’s a tough one to follow. Haven’t we seen this before?'” Smith said. “But then [the offer] sort of didn’t go away. Then it came up again, and then I went in for a screen test, and then that was that.”
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For Smith, the bigger plus was acting alongside Considine who plays King Viserys I, and his brother, who looks to appoint an heir to the throne. He was the first actor to be cast in the spin-off and the news was made official, It was earlier reported that he turned down a role in 'GoT'. “I became aware that Paddy Considine was doing the show as well,” Smith explained. “He’d already been offered the role of King Viserys, and I was such a huge admirer of Paddy’s and I’d always wanted to work with him. So that was a real draw.”
After his initial fear of following 'Game of Thrones', Smith said he's finally embracing his character on the show and found there was a lot like about. “And then there are so many elements to Daemon,” he said. “I love the relationship with his brother. He’s a brilliant character because you never quite know what he’s thinking. I liked the ambiguity of that. There’s a ruthlessness in his personality that I thought was really interesting, to see characters who behave that badly. But in many ways, he comes from what he thinks is quite a real place.”
'House of the Dragon' airs on Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO. Episode 1 is available for streaming on HBO Max.
