House of the Dragon Star Explains Why Larys Is Still So Mysterious

No character in House of the Dragon spends more time scheming or observing than Ser Larys Strong. The man that some in the realm call “Clubfoot” has been operating in the shadows all season long, opting to watch what others do and making moves that few know about. Over the last couple of weeks, fans have learned just how dangerous Larys can actually be, as it was revealed that he had both his father and brother killed in an effort to help Queen Alicent, as well as strengthen his own inheritance. We know the lengths Larys will go to in order to get things done, but we still know very little about why he does the things he does. That’s very intentional.

Matthew Needham, who plays Larys on House of the Dragon, recently spoke to EW about his character, who reminds most fans of Game of Thrones characters like Littlefinger and Varys. Needham doesn’t like to reveal too much about Larys, however, as the mystery surrounding the character is part of what makes him so great.

“It’s a hard one because the enjoyable parts I find in this character – in the books, anyway – is the mystery box element of him, where you’re not entirely sure why he’s doing what he does,” Needham explained. “It’s why it makes interviews quite hard, because I’d love to maintain that slight mystery box aspect of him. If you start explaining away things, it suddenly becomes less interesting. But that was something I was always interested in: the man who’s out of focus, and then he slowly comes into focus. I don’t know if he’s fully in focus yet.”

Needham was also asked about Larys’ objectives throughout the series. He started as someone who just hung around in the background, and seemingly rose into power as soon as there was an opening. Has he always had a plan, or is he just very opportunistic?

“I think he’s got a plan. I think he’s got a direction,” Needham said. “I think you can’t be just enigmatic for enigmatic’s sake, just lounging around smoking with nowhere to go. That’d be awful. No, I think he’s got something he’s trying to achieve. They’ve created this incredible character, this man who acts on the world and makes things happen despite looking like he couldn’t hurt a fly. I think he knows where he wants to go. I think he’s got plans, and he’s had, well, all his life to come up with them. So he’s prepared.”

New episodes of House of the Dragon air every Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max.