If Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen is going to win the battle for the Iron Throne, she’s going to need the full support of Lord Corlys Velaryon and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. Fortunately for those rooting for Team Black, as HBO’s House of the Dragon season two begins, the Sea Snake and The Queen Who Never Was have fully committed to toppling the usurper, King Aegon II Targaryen, from the Iron Throne.
Leading up to the show’s season two premiere, Steve Toussaint (Lord Corlys), Eve Best (Princess Rhaenys), and Bethany Antonia (Lady Baela Targaryen) participated in a lengthy press conference hosted by HBO. During the Q&A, Toussaint, Best, and Antonia discussed their characters, dragon riding, and the importance of representation in large-scale productions like House of the Dragon.
Season two premieres on Sunday, June 16, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT.
On choosing not to read the book to learn his character’s fate:
Steve Toussaint: “We were given the book. I chose not to look at the book at all not because of spoilers, but simply because they are two different mediums. Do you know what I mean? What happens is you read the book and you go, ‘Oh my god, my character does this. It’s fantastic.’ And then Ryan [Condal] goes, ‘No, he’s not going to do that.’ And you go, ‘But in the book…’ So, I didn’t want to fall in love with what was on the page.
Every so often, fans will tell me, and I’m like, ‘Well, that doesn’t guarantee anything.’ Because he’s devious. We might not always stick to the book. For me, I felt it to be better to just play what was in the script rather than what I would have read anywhere else.”
On the experience of riding House of the Dragon dragons:
Eve Best: “I was never off my dragon. It’s just exactly like riding a dragon in real life. It’s desperately uncomfortable in armor and I kept shouting, ‘Bring me more cushions! Bring me more padding! I need more padding!’ You’re just so uncomfortable and you’re in this kind of position with your legs up under your feet. You’re wearing this kind of tin can and they were rocking you.
[…] It was horrendous … no, it wasn’t horrendous. It was amazing. I loved every second of it. Can’t wait to do more. I felt rather proud of myself that I came off it alive.”
Bethany Antonia: “The bit that I found the most exciting was that you get to see what they’ve animated already before you get on the dragon. So, you get to see what it’s going to look like. Obviously, like the cartoon version of yours. And then you get on and it’s like a bucking bronco, and it’s so cool.
What made me laugh was that it always comes down to a guy with a wind machine. Like, no matter how much budget you have, how much CGI, there’s always going to be a guy with a wind machine and you’re going to be upside down. It was just the most fun. But I loved the days on the buck. Yeah.”
On special challenges faced while filming season two:
Eve Best: “I think it was sad that we weren’t all together so much as we had been in season one. It wasn’t sad like crying into a pillow every night sad, but it was nice that feeling of camaraderie in the face of awful s**t that was going on. It was very nice to feel that we were all coming together. And this season we were all separated and going through [things].
(Referring to Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy) I mean, you have talked a bunch about chinks in your relationship. The same was going on with us in a different context, but that was because he had always been Rhaenys’ absolute rock and now it starts to sort of crumble a little bit, starts to crumble a lot. And that was a big challenge for me.”
Steve Toussaint: “I feel with Corlys there are only two places where he is completely comfortable and himself. One is at sea and the other is alone with his wife. That’s the time when you see him truly not having to … when he’s in the small council, he has to put on a front, and he feels he’s better than everybody there. But in those two situations, he’s completely honest. She is his rock. And in season two, things that he did in the past come [back]. He has to confront them, and he has to deal with them. And they put this sacred relationship under strain for him.
I think, for the first time, he’s aware that he could possibly lose this precious thing, his wife. So, it was an interesting journey.”
On music that puts them in the House of the Dragon mindset:
Steve Toussaint: “Well, I was going to say, actually, for me it depends on the scene. There’s no one song that would make me feel like Corlys. But if I’m doing an emotional scene with Eve, then I might look for a sad love song or something. Well, when I say sad, something deep, possibly. But I don’t think I have a theme, particularly.”
Eve Best: “I made a whole playlist this season. But it always started with my power, Beyonce, I Need Ya, which is a really good way to start the day.”
On their characters’ astrological signs:
Bethany Antonia: “I didn’t choose a star sign for Baela, but I wish I had, and maybe I’ll think about that and I’ll decide on one.”
Eve Best: “Well, I would say Scorpio men, chaos. Scorpio women, mother. All the greatest mother figures in my life have been Scorpio. And I feel like that’s an energy that Rhaenys certainly feels like she carries in this season, especially, just holding everybody in all the chaos.”
Steve Toussaint: “I hadn’t either, but the minute you said it, I thought, ‘Well, he’s definitely a fire sign.’ And then I thought, ‘Well, he’s Aries,’ which happens to be what I am. But it makes sense.
But to hear Eve say Scorpio makes so much sense, because I once was in a relationship with a Scorpio. But that surfeit …, is that the right word …excessive passion is evident with this couple, I think. So, it makes sense.”
On the incredibly strong female characters in this complex world:
Bethany Antonia: “I think that we get to see the women really step up to the plate in this season, and we’ve seen that all the way through. But now, specifically, in a time of such crisis and such war, we see them being the decision-makers. And I think for Baela, she’s taken so many of her influences from Rhaenys because she spent such a long time with her, and that’s where she grew up, really, when [Corlys] was away off at sea. She spent all of her time at Driftmark with Rhaenys and that’s the figurehead that she kind of aspires to be and has learned to behave from. So, I think she takes all of her influences from her.”
On the importance of representation with key House of the Dragon characters:
Bethany Antonia: “It was so important to me to be in a franchise of this scale, because I didn’t get to see that when I was younger. And not that only young people watch these kinds of shows, not at all, but when you’re that age, that’s when you start to develop what your dreams are going to be and what your aspirations are going to be. And if you don’t see it, you can’t believe it.
I really wanted to be in something like this, so that there were people who had somebody to dress up like. And I know that might sound really basic, but those are the things that you get to enjoy when you’re in these kinds of fandoms. It’s one privilege that we just didn’t have. We didn’t have anybody to dress up like. We didn’t, and it’s like a bit of joy that you get to do when you go to these conventions and things. And so even if just for that, if one person gets to see it and go, ‘Wow, that’s somebody who is like me,’ it was worth it.”
Steve Toussaint: “Absolutely, I would second that. I think people, if you’re used to being represented, representation doesn’t mean as much because you’re used to it. When I was a kid in the dark ages and there would be science fiction programs and there were very few, if any, people who looked like me, looked like us, me and my friends used to joke about it. This is set in the future and we’re not there. What are they going do to us?
But I can’t tell you the amount of people who have contacted me – and not just people of color – who have contacted me through social media or through letters and said how pleased they are to see this representation in this world. Because exactly what Bethany said, it is important for you to feel like you are something, that you are part of it, that you have a contribution to make.
And so I think it’s vital. And, certainly, I think some of you may be aware that there was some negative response when I was first announced, I have since then had people sort of go, ‘Yeah, I was a bit dubious about you, but actually you did a great job and well done.’ But I think we are living in a world in which everybody is here. And I think everybody has a right to be represented, people of different races, people of different genders, people of gender identity, and so forth. That is the world I think we should be striving for.
There are voices out there that would argue against that. But I think those of us who want to see that world, I think history is on our side.”
- House of the Dragon Season 2 Character Descriptions
- Showrunner Ryan Condal Talks Dragons and George R.R. Martin’s Fantasy World
- House of the Dragon Season 2: Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith and Harry Collett Interview
- House of the Dragon Season 2: Olivia Cooke, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, and Fabien Frankel Interview
- House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 10: “The Black Queen” Finale
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