Tuesday, April 27, 2021

“HOUSE OF THE DRAGON” Begins PRODUCTION; New CAST MEMBERS Revealed

 


At times, the pace in which HBO is moving to produce their planned spinoffs to their eight-season cash cow fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” can seem as similar to the wait for fans of the show’s source book series written by George R.R. Martin, who has yet to finish the last two volumes. Furthest along in conceptualization is “House of the Dragon,” a prequel series set around two centuries before the start of “GOT.” It already has a principal cast, and the show-runners have filming locations scoped out. Now, after preparations hampered by the pandemic, the production has officially begun.

Entertainment Weekly tells us that “House of the Dragon” has started its production phase, after getting its main cast together for the first time. HBO posted updates on the first day at work for the crew on the upcoming series’ official Twitter page. The highlight was seeing the cast for a table reading on their characters. For health and safety considerations however, each cast member was assigned their own table station with tablet computer, microphone and headset, physically distanced but arranged in a rough oval. Present for the reading are all of the already-announced actors and actresses, plus several more.

Leading the way is English actor Paddy Considine (HBO’s “The Outsider”) as Viserys I Targaryen, King on the Iron Throne during the historically strongest period of the Targaryen Dynasty, who have ruled Westeros since the conquest of its Seven Kingdoms by their ancestor Aegon I the Conqueror and his sister-wives. He is joined by Olivia Cooke (Art3mis in “Ready Player One”) as Alicent Hightower, Viserys’ second wife; Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Viserys’ daughter from his late first queen; Matt Smith (Prince Philip in “The Crown”) as Daemon Targaryen, Viserys’ younger brother; and Fabien Frankel as Kingsuard knight Criston Cole.

The rest of the table reading stations were filled out by the new additions to the cast of “House of the Dragon.” They are: Rhys Ifans (Curt Connors/Lizard in “The Amazing Spider-Man”) as Otto Hightower, Lord of Oldtown and Viserys’ Hand of the King (chief advisor); Steve Toussaint (Disney’s “Prince of Persia” film) as Daemon’s ally Corlys “Sea Snake” Velaryon; Eve Best (“The Winx Saga”) as Rhaenys Velaryon, a Targaryen and daughter of Visery’s Uncle Aemon; and Sonoya Mizuno (“Crazy Rich Asians”) as Mysaria aka Lady Misery, a foreign dancer and ally to Daemon who later served as Rhaenyra’s spy-mistress.

While “House of the Dragon” has a new team of show-runners in Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, there is continuity prequel-wise with “Game of Thrones” since its composer Ramin Djawadi is also returning to score. The series will premiere on HBO in 2022 and on HBO Max not long after.

Image courtesy of Gadgets 360

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