The HBO fiction, titled ‘House of the Dragon’, will be set 300 years before the original series and will also feature Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, and Paddy Considine in the cast
House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones series focused on House Targaryen, continues to take shape with the signing of three new performers. According to Variety, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy have joined the cast of the prequel to the hit fantasy drama.
‘Doctor Who’ actor Matt Smith in House of the Dragon – ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel
Beginning with the actor from Doctor Who and The Crown, Smith will play Prince Daemon Targaryen, little brother of King Viserys, and heir to the throne. According to the description published by the medium, the character is a “fierce warrior” who possesses “the true blood of a dragon.”
Cooke, meanwhile, is known for her work on the Amazon film Sound of Metal. The actress will play Alicent Hightower, daughter of The Hand of King Otto Hightower. ” The Most Attractive Woman in the Seven Kingdoms ” has both “courtly grace and keen political acumen,” the magazine notes.
Finally, D’Arcy will be Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the king’s first-born, a woman “who was born with everything, but was not born a man.” The actress has appeared in the Amazon series Truth Seekers and Hannah, as well as in the Netflix and BBC co-production Wanderlust.
The trio of interpreters thus joins Paddy Considine ( The Third Day ), who will play King Viserys Targaryen. “Viserys was chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, in the Great Council of Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry on with his grandfather’s legacy, but as we have learned in Game of Thrones, good men don’t necessarily turn out to be great kings, “says the character’s description.
House of the Dragon is the second game of Thrones spinoff project launched by HBO, in this case with a 10-episode order. The fiction is set 300 years before the events narrated in the original series and is based on Fire and Blood, two books -no novels- dedicated to the history of Westeros under the reign of the Targaryen dynasty: from Aegon, I the Conqueror to Robert’s rebellion, passing through the regency of Aegon III and the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons.
The author of the books, George RR Martin and Ryan Condal ( Colony ) are behind the new fiction, whose premiere is scheduled for 2022. Condal will share the work of showrunner with Miguel Sapochnik ( Game of Thrones ), who will direct the pilot and several episodes. Completing the directing team are Clare Kilner ( Snowpiercer ), Greg Yaitanes ( Banshee ) and Geeta V. Patel ( The Witcher ),
The other prequel underway, The Long Night, featured Naomi Watts ( Mullholland Drive, The Impossible ) as the lead. But after filming the pilot, it was canceled.
