The cast and crew steps out in style for the House of the Dragon premiere

The cast and crew of House of the Dragon stepped out in style last night to watch the series premiere on the big screen with a live audience at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles. What did they have to say about HBO’s follow-up to Game of Thrones. Let’s check in with them, starting with showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik.

House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal thinks they “succeeded” in making a great series

“It’s a huge responsibility,” Condal told Variety about producing a prequel to HBO’s most successful show ever. “I deeply love [Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin], as a man, as a writer, as a creator. I love his world, that’s why I ended up here. I came here as a fan, I was hired because I was a fan. So I asked for this, but I don’t think I knew what I was getting myself into. I really feel it on my shoulders, because I’m a fan. I want to make the series that I would have wanted to see…I think we’ve done it, I think it’s pretty good, I think we succeeded.”

"This was George’s passion project. He wanted to tell the Dance of the Dragons…I think there are lots of Targaryen stories to be told. But this one in particular has the most relevance and resonance with the original series because this is what precipitates the fall of the dynasty."

Indeed, House of the Dragon is about the Dance of the Dragons, a brutal civil war that divides the family some 200 years before the events of the original series. There were a lot more dragons filling the skies at this time, and everyone is sure to have their favorites. “I think I love Syrax,” Condal said, referring to the dragon ridden by lead character Rhaenyra Targaryen. “We kind of designed her to look like an eagle, with kind of a racing bird in mind. She’s very regal and elegant…I think there’s a real beauty to her and the bond she has with her rider.”

Showrunner Miguel Sapochnik explains how House of the Dragon differs from Game of Thrones

Condal mostly the writing side of the show which Sapochnik is in charge of directing. He has a different favorite dragon. “There’s a very big one…She’s a cantankerous old lady. You’ll know her because nobody can seem to say her name right,” Sapochnik said. He’s almost definitely referring to the dragon Vhagar, who has some memorable scenes in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the book the show is based on.

Sapochnik also echoed something we’ve heard from the first impressions of the show: that House of the Dragon may be in the same universe as Game of Thrones, but the shows are different. “Whereas the original show was about a number of families that span a number of continents, this is a very intimate portrayal of the dissolution of a family…and that intimacy allows you to spend more time with the characters and get into the gritty nuance of what makes them tick,” Sapochnik said.

So that’s the showrunners. But what about the cast? Let’s start with Matt Smith, who is radiating attitude on the red carpet in a way that pretty accurately represents his character Daemon Targaryen:

Matt Smith: House of the Dragon has “great scale”

“It’s got great scale,” Smith said of the show, “but ultimately it always comes down to the intimacy between the actors. You can add as many dragons and explosions and whatever it is going on, but if the stuff isn’t going on between the actors, it means nothing.”

That said, he did admit that all the fantasy fixings help get you into the character. “The wig and the sword do a lot of that.” Although it’s possible to get too excited about the swords; just ask actor Fabien Frankel, who plays the Ser Criston Cole. He and Smith were practicing when Frankel got a little too excited and accidentally smacked Smith in the face with his prop blade.

Fabien Frankel: “I did feel at the time, god, of all the people I could have possibly axed in the face, Matt was the worst one,” Frankel quipped.

Alicent Hightower is an “impeccable lady” who’s “bubbling with repression and rage”

House of the Dragon is unique in that some of the key characters are played by multiple actors. Take Alicent Hightower, the wife of King Viserys I Targaryen. In the early part of season, she’ll be played as a young woman by Emily Carey, but will eventually hand the role off to an older actor as the character grows up.

Carey, by the way, had what was indisputably the best outfit on the red carpet, or at least the most memorable:

“As part of my prep for the role, I watched the original show, and I got it. I got the hype,” Carey said. “It’s so much more than just fantasy and dragons. It’s complex, diverse storylines and characters who are so three-dimensional and they have so much depth to them, which as an actor makes my job so much fun, and so easy, as well.”

Carey sees herself in Alicent insofar in that they’re both people-pleasers who feel a need to conform, although she’s very happy she’s never had to go through anything like the split between Alicent and Rhaenyra Targaryen, who begin the series as best friends but grow up to be bitter enemies. “It’s the worst break-up ever when it’s your best friend,” she said.

Meanwhile, Olivia Cooke will play Alicent as an adult.

“Alicent is just an incredibly complex character who is just the most impeccable lady at core, but inside she is just bubbling with repression and rage,” Cooke said. “To play that raw nerve aspect of her was really fun and delicious to me.”

Cooke also has a take on the fateful split between Alicent and Rhaenyra. “It’s these two women who are so much stronger together, but the patriarchy has driven a wedge between them,” she said. “And they are used as political pawns throughout their lives but really they are so much more. And they realize as the series goes on that they have power and strength and determination but the men around them are just so set of watching the world burn around them for legacy.”

House of the Dragon in three words: “Intrigue. Drama. Sexiness.”

One of the men obsessed with legacy is Corlys Velaryon. Corlys is played by Steve Toussaint, who actually auditioned for the role with lines originally said by Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones, although he thinks the characters are at least a little different. “Other than the fact that he’s a father who has ambition for his children, that’s about the only link,” Toussaint said. “But even though Corlys makes mistakes, I think he’s a better father than [Tywin].” It’d be hard for him not to be.

Toussaint also had a great summation of what House of the Dragon is all about. “Intrigue. Drama. Sexiness.” Sold.

"From the minute the show was announced, there was a lot of anticipation…So finally, to be able to be able to be surrounded by a supportive embrace…it’s still quite nerve-racking…we’re quite proud of what we’ve done and I hope people like it."

And where Corlys goes, so goes his dragon-riding wife Rhaenys Targaryen, played by Eve Best. These two are the power couple of House of the Dragon.

In terms of familiar faces, Ramin Djawadi is returning from Game of Thrones to create the soundtrack for the show. He’s already familiar with how Westeros should sound, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges. According to Djawadi, he had to do things with this score: “create the connection [to Game of Thrones] but also do something new. We have new characters, we need new themes, so the pressure was on to kind of continue that world we set up.”

There are lot more cast members who are part of this show. Let’s meet a few, starting with the two actors playing Rhaenyra Targaryen. Milly Alcock will play her as a young woman…

…while Emma D’Arcy will play her as an adult:

And we can’t forget Paddy Considine, who plays Rhaenyra’s farther King Viserys I Targaryen:

Every king must have a hand. For King Viserys, it’s Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), Alicent’s father:

Then there’s Gavin Spokes as Lyonel Strong, the head of another family who will get mixed up with the Targaryens, for better or for worse:

You’ll see the lot of them in action when House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21.

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