Ewan Mitchell on becoming Aemond Targaryen: “He’s a whole other monster”

House of the Dragon season 1 featured no small number of compelling characters, but few held people’s attention like Aemond Targaryen, the one-eyed second son of Alicent Hightower who kickstarted a war by accidentally murdering his nephew Lucerys in the season finale.

The Last Kingdom veteran Ewan Mitchell (Osferth) played Aemond as an adult in the last few episodes of season 1 and will be playing him throughout the rest of the series. Aemond was bullied as a child and grew into a quietly fearsome adult. His journey took a turn when he claimed the dragon Vhagar, the “oldest, grumpiest, biggest dragon” in Westeros.

“That was one of the first things [showrunners] Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik wanted to think about: the legend of The Cyclops in Greek mythology, and how he ultimately traded one of his eyes to Hades in order to see the day he would die,” Mitchell told The Face. “What does that do to a person, to possess that extreme degree of self-certainty? To know the day you’re going to go down, and feel bulletproof to a point. I’m not saying Aemond is a seer, but he’s scary perceptive.”

How Ewan Mitchell won the role of Aemond Targaryen on House of the Dragon

There are a lot of great tidbits from Mitchell’s interview. For starters, he talks about how he got the role of Aemond in the first place:

"I auditioned like everyone else. Usually, I get really wired for auditions, but when I went down on the train for this one, I was in such a state of zen that I fell asleep, which I never do on public transport. I remember going into the audition not feeling like I wanted it or like I needed it, but like I wanted to own it. I walked into the room and made a conscious decision to walk as slow as possible, because I wanted everyone to see me – see me exist for that moment, and let the work speak for itself."

That’s kind of fun to picture. And Mitchell absolutely brought that quiet confidence to House of the Dragon; while Aemond had some good lines, many of his best moments are silent.

“I was really excited to work with Amanda Knight, the hair and make-up artist, and the costume designer Jany Temime,” Mitchell said. “Their work combined really encourages you to abandon who you are. I’d catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and only see Aemond Targaryen. I can’t be anything less than interesting without saying a word. The whole get-up: the long hair, the eye-patch, everything that means and represents, is a tragedy that Aemond wears as well as his Targaryen blacks. It’s one thing to become a dangerous and proficient swordsman, but to do it with one eye? He’s a whole other monster.”

To play that monster required getting into a certain headspace. Mitchell believes in method acting, though it doesn’t sound like he takes it to extremes. He wasn’t like Jared Leto pretending to be disabled on the set of Morbius to the point where it held up the production. But it did mean Mitchell had no funny set stories to share.

“I’m quite serious, probably way too much,” he said. “I think method acting gets a bad rap nowadays, but if you consider it [in relation to] people’s time, it’s certainly not a bad thing. For Aemond, I definitely stayed in a state of character, because his temperature is so high and I’m quite calm and collected. So instead of fluctuating between the two, I’d find a middle ground that I could relax into between takes. For me, it made it that little bit more work efficient.”

Besides Aemond, Ewan Mitchell’s favorite House of the Dragon character is Daemon Targaryen

One throughline for Aemond’s character in season 1 is that he grew up from being a child who was constantly bullied for not having his own dragon to the rider of the largest dragon in Westeros. That journey drew Mitchell to the role.

"I just enjoyed reading the script for the first time and meeting this neglected, friendless, bullied boy who really never found a place in the family. It’s almost like a Lynne Ramsay film in that he was never really there. Even in episodes six and seven, he’s almost a wraith-like presence, floating between his family members. It’s tradition in Targaryen culture to place a dragon egg in the cradle of a newborn, which establishes a bond between the rider and the mount. There’s this dynamic that as the person grows, so does the hatchling.For whatever reason, Aemond was denied that; he was always on the back foot. He’s able to identify with this dragon Vhagar, the oldest, grumpiest, biggest dragon. She’s named after the old Valyrian God of War and she’s a hardened survivor of over 100 battles. She’s enormous but also the loneliest. She’s so big she can’t fit within the confines of any castle wall, like Aemond. He doesn’t fit it anywhere, and so he identifies with her.That story of standing in the face of adversity, showing courage and resilience – that really inspired me as an actor. Not only does he find his voice, but he also makes a friend. A character like Aemond never really felt that unconditional love from his family, but he’s found it in this dragon. What does that do? It changes him."

Mitchell clearly connected with the character. But of course, he does have other favorites on the show. “[Daemon and Aemond are] similar in that Daemon is a prince who stands to inherit nothing. He recognizes that what he wants in life, he’s going to have to go out there and get it for himself,” Mitchell said.

Why did House of the Dragon succeed? “You can count on a Targaryen being a Targaryen”

House of the Dragon season 1 was a resounding success. Mitchell has some thoughts about why the show went over so well with fans.

“It was filmed over a long period of time, when the whole world fell, basically,” Mitchell said. “The last two-and-a-half years have been so disruptive to so many people’s lives. We’ve been plunged into the unknown. I think it’s brilliant that we were able to give the audience back a world that they do know: the world of Westeros. You know nothing ends in diplomacy. You can count on a Targaryen being a Targaryen, on a Baratheon being a Baratheon. I really think that familiarity gives the audience something to grasp onto and rely on in uncertain times.”

We’ll be seeing a lot more of Aemond Targaryen when House of the Dragon returns for season 2 sometime in 2024.

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