Rhys Ifans: Must Watch Movies of House of the Dragon Cast

The devastatingly ambitious, blindly authoritarian, and fiercely calculating character in ‘House of the Dragon’- Ser Otto Hightower is played by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans. Rhys Ifans has been active in their acting career since 1991 and has starred in a number of successful films. His brother Llyr Ifans is also a Welsh actor.

House of the Dragon is the much-awaited spin-off prequel of HBO‘s celebrated epic fantasy series ‘Game of Thrones. The plot of the prequel series is set around two hundred years before the events of GOT.

Otto Hightower was the Hand of the King to King Jaehaerys I, the predecessor of King Viserys I, who is the reigning king when the first season of HOTD opens. Otto is appointed as Viserys’ Hand of the King too.

And his plans and plots during this time are what built the stage for the upcoming Targaryen civil war known as Dance of the Dragon.

Following the death of Viserys’ wife Queen Gemma Arryn, Otto forced his daughter Alicent Hightower, who grew up with the royal family, to console and give support to the mourning and vulnerable king foreshadowing the king’s inevitable reliability on Alicent leading to his wish to marry her.

This was the first step towards monopolizing power for his house using his daughter as a pawn. He slowly led Alicent’s heart against her best friend Princess Rhaenyra which leads to the infamous Princess vs Queen motif of the Dance of the Dragon.

The nature of Otto Hightower is characterized by immense patience, acute political intelligence, and the ability to retain a calm unclouded mind during hostile situations.

All of these traits are visible on the face of Otto when he is thinking or plotting or calculating. And there might not be anyone better to portray those characteristics than Rhys Ifans.

In various interviews, Ifans has been described by his co-stars of ‘House of the Dragon as the funniest person on the set, who will pull jokes on the others, and interrupt their interviews.

They think it’s amazing that a person with such humorous nature could portray a serious man like Otto Hightower. Ifans previously acted in a number of other movies too which are as follows.

Also Read: Who is Olivia Cooke?

Movies of Rhys Ifans

Twin Town (1997)-

Ifans with his real-life brother Llyr Ifans starred in this movie as Jeremy Lewis. This was his first major film role.

Notting Hill (1999)-

He played Spike in this romantic movie and received a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Danny Deckchair (2003)-

Rhys Ifans
IMDb

Ifans played the lead character of Danny Morgan in this Australian comedy movie.

Enduring Love (2004)-

He played the antagonist Jed in this psychological thriller.

Mr. Nobody (2009)-

Ifans played the role of father to Nemo (Jared Leto) in this sci-fi drama.

Mr. Nice (2010)-

Rhys Ifans
IMDb

He played the main character of Howard Marks in this crime drama.

Greenberg (2010)-

Ifans played Ivan Schrank in this comedy-drama movie.

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)-

Co-starring with Emma Thompson, Ifans starred in the film as Phil Green.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)-

Rhys Ifans

Ifans also portrayed Luna’s father Xenophilius Lovegood in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1′.

Anonymous (2011)-

This is a period drama in which Ifans played Edward de Vere. The movie is set in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, played by Vanessa Redgrave, and is controversial for suggesting that the plays of Shakespeare are originally written by the playwright and poet Edward de Vere.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)-

As Dr. Curt Connors aka Lizard, he starred in the film and received a nomination for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain. He co-starred in the film with Andrew Garfield playing Peter Parker aka Spider-man and Emma Stone playing Gwen Stacy.

Dominion (2015)-

Ifans portrayed the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas in this movie.

Len and Company (2015)-

He starred as the titular main character Len in this independent comedy drama.

Under Milk Wood (2015)-

Ifans was cast as Captain Cat in this Welsh drama adapted from the same named radio drama of Dylan Thomas. Ifans also served as the narrator of the film.

The Parting Glass (2018)-

Ifans played Karl in this American Canadian drama.

Official Secrets (2019)-

As Ed Vulliamy, Ifans starred in this British drama in which he co-starred with Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, and Ralph Fiennes.

Misbehavior (2020)-

In this comedy-drama, Ifans portrayed the founder of the Miss World pageant Eric Morley. In this film, to Ifans co-starred with Keira Knightley.

The Phantom of the Open (2021)-

Ifans portrayed Keith Mackenzie in this biographical comedy co-starring with Mark Rylance who portrayed British golfer Maurice Gerald Flitcroft and Sally Hawkins.