House of the Dragon Stars Say the "Ick Factor" of Targaryen Incest Romance Is Key for "Honest" Portrayal
House of the Dragon stars Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith revealed how they leaned into the "ick factor" regarding their character's incestuous relationship on the hit HBO series. The Game of Thrones prequel took fans back 200 years prior to the events of the original series, as the Targaryens ruled over Westeros. Two of the main characters were D'Arcy's Rhaenyra and Smith's Daemon, who wind up getting married near the end of Season 1. However, the awkward part is Rhaenyra is Daemon's niece. The duo recently discussed how they leaned into the "ick" factor of it all.
"If we're going to show this relationship and we're going to do the whole thing justice, the ick factor has to be present because that's honest," Emma D'Arcy told Deadline in a House of the Dragon interview. "It can be sexy, and you've got to keep the ick in the room because that's honest."
"Obviously we're dealing with events that are hundreds of years old and the morality was different then," added Matt Smith. "But ultimately, it's important to the story. So, therefore, Daemon and Rhaenyra do their thing."
Paddy Considine Shocked at House of the Dragon Backlash
House of the Dragon opened to record-breaking numbers that gave HBO the most-viewed premiere for a new series in a decade. It was revealed near the end of the first season that House of the Dragon would be getting a second season, and it recently went into production despite the ongoing WGA strike. One of the most popular characters from the first season of House of the Dragon was King Viserys (Paddy Considine), even though there are some major detractors to his character. Considine recently revealed that he was shocked at the backlash Viserys received from viewers.
"I was sort of shocked in the first episode or so when people commented that they hated him," Considine told Deadline. "I didn't understand that. Why would you hate him? I don't think that fans were used to a character like that in that world, a king who wasn't corrupted by power or entitlement. I think it was difficult for people to place him because he wasn't particularly archetypal and he wasn't what they were expecting from what they'd read in the books, either." That in itself is what made Viserys such a provocative character — and why Considine, whose previous credits included The Death of Stalin and Peaky Blinders, was the perfect man to play him. (Condal likes to describe Considine's casting as "celestial" after both he and director Miguel Sapochnik singled him out from a long list of candidates)."