House of the Dragon casting director talks landing "slam dunk" Matt Smith and other actors

Despite criticisms for the second season of House of the Dragon, it feels like the one thing viewers can agree on is that the cast is always fantastic. The first two seasons have introduced us to many characters, and even multiple actors playing the same characters due to time jumps. Throughout it all, there has not been one cast member who's disappointed me. The performances are excellent across the board, adding to the prestige quality of the show.

Though I have my favorite characters in House of the Dragon, choosing a favorite actor is difficult. They're all so good and bring nuances to their characters. I was shocked that I started wanting more Aegon on my screen in season 2, a character I can't stand, just because Tom Glynn-Carney's performance is so captivating. And even one of the writers, Sara Hess, was taken aback by how much people fell in love with Daemon in season 1, which had a lot to do with Matt Smith's portrayal.

The casting director for House of the Dragon, Kate Rhodes James, is a seasoned vet in the industry, working on shows we love here at Winter is Coming like Interview With The Vampire, Raised by Wolves and Warrior. The three-time Emmy Award nominee sat down earlier this month for a video with Vanity Fair, where she broke down the casting process for the fantastic actors of the Game of Thrones prequel.

House of the Dragon cast is "fascinating," "extraordinary," and "fearless"

James only had positive things to say about the cast, praising how interesting and complex they are. She explained that casting the follow-up to Game of Thrones, which featured a stellar cast, was "a very tall order to follow," and that she went into the process wanting "to challenge everyone’s preconceptions about these roles."

By watching the video above, you can tell very clearly that James does her homework, either having worked with the cast members before or having been familiar enough with their work to pick them out for roles. For Emma D'Arcy, who portrays Rhaenyra Targaryen, James talked about how she was looking for "somebody that was unusual," wanting to avoid a "doe-eyed girl" look. She had already worked with D'Arcy in the past after finding them through the theater and was "on a mission to find the right thing for them." Of course, that right thing ended up being House of the Dragon, and D'Arcy's performance as Rhaenyra is one of my favorite parts of the show.

James also remembered casting Milly Alcock (young Rhaenyra), Olivia Cooke (Alicent), Emily Carey (young Alicent), Matt Smith (Daemon), Ewan Mitchell (Aemond), Matthew Needham (Larys), Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon), Steve Toussaint (Corlys), and Eve Best (Rhaenys). Smith is probably the most well-known actor in the cast, and with his years of experience, it's no surprise that he “really brought it to the table” when he auditioned.

James called Smith's casting a "slam dunk," explaining that while viewers had seen him play sympathetic characters in the past, such as the Doctor in Doctor Who, she "knew in [her] heart of hearts" that he was right for the role of Daemon.

"We started to see that [Smith's] version of Daemon was actually the most profound version that we needed for the story that we were building at that point."

For Aemond and Aegon, James had been familiar with their work and was very impressed with them. She recalled Mitchell's audition as "really, really turn[ing] it up a huge notch." For Aegon, it seems she hand-picked Glynn-Carney after seeing him in a production of Jez Butterworth's The Ferryman.

"I had been determined to find something. So when we were casting [Aegon], I do remember saying to Ryan [Condal] and Miguel [Sapochnik], ‘I know exactly who’s gonna play this.’"

James concludes the video by saying how "immensely proud" of the cast she is, and she should be. Though some of the best performers in season 1 were snubbed at the big award shows, D'Arcy received a Golden Globe nomination for their performance as Rhaenyra, and Smith and Alcock received Critics Choice Award nominations for their roles as Daemon and young Rhaenyra, respectively.

The cast of House of the Dragon is one part of the show we can always count on, and we have Kate Rhodes James to thank for that!

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