House of the Dragon Star Matt Smith Says His Character is ‘Sort Of An Outsider’ in the HBO Series

Matt Smith is best known for starring in Doctor Who, spanning a decade from 2010 to 2020. He’s credited with 58 episodes as The Doctor on the series, marking him as the second most prominent character behind David Tennant. Lately, he’s appeared in The Crown for Netflix, Last Night in Soho, and Morbius.

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However, his most iconic role may still be in front of him when he plays Daemon Targaryen in the upcoming HBO Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon. The series will feature the fall of House Targaryen, the once most powerful family in Westeros. At the show’s heart lies the conflict between the family as Daemon is the younger brother of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) and the heir to the Iron Throne. However, the King has a firstborn child, Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), who hopes to become the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. The tensions between the Targaryens is the spark that causes the civil war within the family, leading to the dynasty’s downfall.

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During an interview with RollingStone, Smith talks about his character, saying, ‘there are shades of grey with him.’

“He’s sort of an outsider. He’s not black and white, there are shades of grey with him, which is what interested me about him. And his relationship with his brother is really interesting. It was a joy working with Paddy Considine, who I’ve admired for so long, and Rhys Ifans.”

He mentions the importance of the source material coming from A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin, not ‘plucking fantasy out of thin air.’

“It’s a great cast. The characters are really, really interesting. And it’s based on George R.R. Martin’s book [Fire & Blood, 2018]. That’s one thing we’ve got going for us: we’re not just plucking fantasy out of thin air. It comes from the mind of George, who’s really clever, and has created a world that feels like it’s translatable.”

Working from a completely finished history, as laid out in Fire & Blood, will undoubtedly benefit the writers and creatives behind House of the Dragon. George R.R. Martin has created the framework for the series; now, showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal must translate the pages to the screen.

Related: House of the Dragon Won’t Feature On-Screen Sexual Violence

Matt Smith Shares his Dragon’s Personality in House of the Dragon

HBO

We know a total of 17 dragons will be seen in the upcoming HBO series, with nine featured in the first season of House of the Dragon. Each one will have a distinct personality, similar to Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion from Game of Thrones. In his RollingStone interview, Matt Smith shares a snippet of what to expect when his winged beast makes its way to audiences.

“My dragon’s called Caraxes. He’s a bit of an avatar of Daemon — he’s grumpy, sardonic, insular, volatile, chaotic. There’s a very strong connection between the dragon and the dragonrider. There’s an actual dragon, and you sit on it and they move it around by remote control, while firing rain and all sorts of things at you.”

Fans won’t wait long to see Daemon and his fire-breathing Caraxes as House of the Dragon premiers later this month, on Aug. 21.

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