All the actors in House of The Dragon, and who they’re playing

Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen

British actor Paddy Considine was one of the first casting announcements to come from HBO in regards to House of the Dragon. His inclusion confirms that the show starting amid the king’s reign rather than after it, which is when the Dance really begins.

Considine has a long career on stage and screen, with notable roles in films like Dead Man’s Shoes and In America. You can also see him in Peaky Blinders as a terrifyingly sadistic priest, Banquo in a recent production of Macbeth, and on stage in 2019’s The Ferryman, which garnered him both Olivier and Tony nominations. But for a sense of what Considine will bring to the character of Viserys, I’d look at his performances in Hot Fuzz, The Death of Stalin and The Bourne Ultimatum,  where he plays sympathetic characters who assume responsibilities they’re not well-suited for, which is a part of King Viserys’ story.

Considine plays likable characters well, and King Viserys is very likable. He’s not a warrior, a dragon rider, or power-hungry. He spends his reign keeping the peace and trying to keep everyone happy. His first marriage to Aemma Arryn (played on the show by Sian Brooke, although probably not for very long) brought him his pride and joy, Princess Rhaenyra. He loves his daughter deeply and has promised her the crown. But that decision doesn’t sit well with his second wife, Alicent Hightower. When the king dies, she calls the Great Council of 101 to argue that her firstborn son by Viserys, Aegon, should be king instead.

While alive, Viserys finds himself in the middle of a great feud between his wife and his daughter, and beset by rumors that Rhaenyra’s children are bastards. If he had managed to settle the feud before he died, might the Dance of the Dragons have been avoided? Perhaps, but Viserys was never good with confrontation. In a way, he’s lucky he doesn’t live long enough to see the people he loves most go to war with one another.