Interview

Ewan Mitchell avoided interacting with Matt Smith to heighten the tension between their characters

Ewan Mitchell’s method acting impressed showrunner Ryan Condal.

Published

4 months ago

July 11, 2024

Rahul Naskar

Credits: Max

Last month, actor Ewan Mitchell opinionated that Aemond was proud that his uncle Daemon saw him as such a huge threat that he wanted to kill him. As much as Mitchell admires Matt Smith as an actor, their characters stand against each other and the enmity between them is brewing. We saw a glimpse of that in Season 1 episode 8 where they face off against each other. And to highlight that animosity in his acting, Mitchell followed a method-acting approach.

Ewan Mitchell deeply immersed himself in the character

Credit: Max

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Episode 8 of House of the Dragon Season 1 is one of the best episodes, with Daemon standing in front of Aemond silently being of the highlighting moments. And Ewan Mitchell prepared for that scene from his very first day on the set. After consulting with showrunner Ryan Condal, Ewan Mitchell decided that he’d avoid interacting with Matt Smith in order to tighten the tension between the two characters. He even avoided eye contact with Matt Smith until that face-off scene.

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Immersing oneself deeply into a character can be challenging for an actor for multiple reasons, Ewan Mitchell pulled it off nicely. So much so, that showrunner Ryan Condal has nothing but praise for his performance in that scene. “When Ewan came into the room, he just had this presence to him that I can best describe as unsettling,” showrunner Ryan Condal said in an interview. “It was kind of quietly terrifying the way he performed it, and it was totally different than everybody else. And then he thanked us very politely and left the room.”

Be ready for another Daemon-Aemond face-off

We’re almost halfway through Season 2, but we’re yet to witness a Daemon-Aemond face-off scene. However, fans won’t be disappointed, as Matt Smith teased that the characters will come face-to-face in Season 2. We’re all waiting to see what transpires to bring them face-to-face in the rest of the episodes. The next episode (Ep – 5) will premiere this Sunday at 9 PM ET on HBO and Max.

Aemond Targaryen Funko Pop! Figure

This figure of Aemond Targaryen also comes with a chance of receiving a Chase version of the figure, which shows a glow-in-the-dark Aemond with Sapphire Eye.

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