Matt Smith was the only actor considered for the role of Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon

Kate Rhodes James, the casting director for House of the Dragon, recently shared her experience casting characters for the show and the upcoming Gladiator II. In an episode of In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast, James discussed the challenges and deliberations involved in casting major roles. She revealed that casting Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen required significant debate and consideration.

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11/18/2024 03:42 am GMT

Kate Rhodes James on casting Daemon Targaryen

Photograph by Theo Whiteman/HBO

Kate Rhodes James described the process of casting Daemon Targaryen as particularly challenging. She emphasized the need to find an actor who could capture the complexity of Daemon’s character. James explained:

“One particular role that everyone had a very strong opinion on was Daemon [Targaryen]. Everyone’s vision was a visual one. You really had to shake that out of people’s system, because it is such a complex character. And if we just turn him into some sort of physically powerful… you know, [if] those are the attributes that are only of necessity, then I think we’d have made Daemon very dull.

“But obviously, he’s a fascinating character, and you needed an actor like Matt, with all his spectacular choices that he has at hand. He never wants to repeat himself. And now you can’t think of anybody else. In fact, somebody asked me the other day, ‘Do you remember who else was in the running?’ But I just was like, I cannot remember a single person we discussed, because it was always meant to be Matt.”

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