Harry Collett got a lot more time in the second season of House of the Dragon, where he plays Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen son and heir, Jacaerys Velaryon, aka Jace.
And with more responsibility comes a new look. In season 1, Collett sported a mulleted mop top that fans instantly clocked as a wig, but in season 2, he got to grow out his own hair.
"In Season 1, I was cast quite quickly, and I had short hair and there wasn’t enough time to grow out my hair before I started shooting — a wig was the only option," Collett explained to Variety. "And they also didn’t have time to make me a wig, so it was kind of a thing of just getting one out of the cupboard and putting it on me. To be honest, I couldn’t rock that wig in Season 1 very well. We had conversations early on as soon as they put that wig on me, 'OK, you need to start growing your hair out for Season 2.' So I didn’t have a haircut for probably about a year and a half. And I had this One Direction-Harry Styles hair going on, where it was really long. And I was like, I really hope they use my hair now, because I’ve gone through all this. I literally tried out seven shampoos."
"This hair care is all new to me; I’ve never done it before. So I was really hoping for them to actually stick to their word, and use it. They cut the majority of it off, which I was really happy about because that in the summer was just dreadful. And Ros, who is in the hair and makeup team, put together a mood board to show to Ryan to pitch it to him. And it was just loads of Jon Snow pictures, which I thought was really cool, because I think they were trying to make me look like Jon Snow when I was on the Wall, which I think is really, really cool."
I wonder if any pictures of Collett with this super-long hair will ever come out. In any case, of all the characters on the show, Jon Snow might be the most appropriate comparison for Jace, what with them both being bastards born of royal blood and all. Of course, in Jace's case he's not supposed to know he's a bastard whereas Jon was reminded of it every day of his life. And while Jace actually is a bastard, Jon was a true-born Targaryen prince and didn't know it. Maybe they're inverses of each other.
Anyway, I remember thinking that Jace did look a little like Jon Snow early in the season when he was hanging out with Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor) on the Wall, so mission accomplished, Ros from the hair and makeup team.
Jace will be back whenever HBO puts the finishing touches on House of the Dragon season 3, which probably won't be for a while; I'm predict 2026 at the earliest. When he returns, we can be sure we'll see more of the long natural locks. The age of the wig is officially ended. "I’m super happy we’ve got to use my real hair, and it saves me 45 minutes in the makeup chair now in the morning, which is great, Collett said. "So I’m never going to complain." Nor will we.
Funnily enough, the honor of actor wearing the most obvious wig may have passed to Tom Taylor. It's like that first scene between Cregan and Jace was the passing of the baton. So maybe it's Taylor's turn to grow out his hair between seasons.
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