Fabien Frankel reveals why House of the Dragon’s intimate scenes took seven months of preparation

In an interview, Fabien Frankel, who portrays Ser Criston Col in House of the Dragon, revealed that the intimate scene in episode 4 took a whopping “seven months” of preparation. In the episode, Milly Alcock, who portrays Princess Rhaenyra, convinces Ser Criston Cole to take her virginity.

In this regard, during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Frankel said that –

“It was one of the first things I was very keen to talk about. The big thing for me was about it not feeling like another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene, ’cause it’s just not like that. Anyone who’s ever had sex will tell you sex ain’t that beautiful. It isn’t some picturesque, amazing thing. It’s awkward, especially when you are young.”

The actor also mentioned that he wanted to put the character’s struggle to betray his vow’s on screen. Frankel said that –

“I remember just saying to them, ‘There’s no way this armor comes off without the help.’ Knights would have squires, and squires would take off their armor. There’s no way Rhaenyra and Cole are gonna take that armor off in 10 seconds. So I was like, ‘Well, you have to have that in.”

The actor later added “How do we get the buckle off? How do we get the boots off? These are all the things I really cared about, ’cause they take away this archaic sexual sex scenes that have existed for so long in television and film, and make it feel real and how it would be.”

What do you think about Frankel’s statement? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more: HBO reveals the runtimes of House of the Dragon episodes 6-10