With the launch of Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, fans are returning to the world of the long-running HBO series that broke records and ultimately fractured the fan base with a divisive final season. Nathalie Emmanuel, who played Missandei from 2011 until 2019 on Game of Thrones, wished the cast of the spinoff well in a new interview, in which she suggested they prepare themselves for the magnitude of what is about to happen to their careers. The Game of Thrones fans, she suggested, are amazing…but they’re also a little….extra.
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That’s nothing new for somebody like Matt Smith, who is used to the scrutiny that comes with being a part of Doctor Who and the Marvel/Sony Universe. But as in the case of Game of Thrones, much of the House of the Dragon cast is made up of young actors who don’t have that kind of background. Still, they’re on a show that’s breaking records and has already been picked up for a second season, just a couple weeks into its release timeline.
“I’m sure they already know, but this fanbase, whew…They are passionate and they are amazing,” Emmanuel told The Hollywood Reporter. “And who knows how this series will be received, but I hope it’s a huge success. And if it is, it’s an experience, and it will be an adjustment, for sure. If you’re not used to that level of attention or recognition, it’s definitely something. So I guess my advice would be to just enjoy it and look to each other. It was really important that we, as a group, went through all of that together and held each other down.”
The show is set some 200 years prior to the events of Game of Thrones, featuring the fall of the House of Targaryen during its own civil war.
House of the Dragon features a cast that includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, and Emma D’Arcy as well as Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, and Emily Carey. It was revealed that the series will have five main characters, including King Viserys Targaryen (Considine), Alicent Hightower (Cooke), Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (D’Arcy), Prince Daemon Targaryen (Smith), and Lord Corlys Velaryon AKA the Sea Snake (Toussaint).
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO Max on August 21st.
