Matt Smith initially hesitated to play Daemon Targaryen in House of The Dragon

Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon is finally here. The first episode of the story of a civil war that almost decimated the Targaryens and their dragons was very well-received, with Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen and his big bad beast Caraxes right in the middle of the storm. However, what’s intriguing is that even though he is in the middle of all the chaos, Smith wasn’t initially on board with the idea of playing the Rogue Prince in the first place.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Smith recalled his thoughts during the casting process, “I was in a car park and my agent said, “There’s this part in this new show that is a prequel to Game of Thrones.” And I was like, “Ohhh. I don’t know. It’s a tough one, isn’t it? It’s a tough one to follow. Haven’t we seen this before?” But then [the offer] sort of didn’t go away. Then it came up again, and then I went in for a screen test, and then that was that.”

“I became aware that Paddy Considine was doing the show as well. He’d already been offered the role of King Viserys, and I was such a huge admirer of Paddy’s and I’d always wanted to work with him. So that was a real draw.”

He added, “And then there are so many elements to Daemon. I love the relationship with his brother. He’s a brilliant character because you never quite know what he’s thinking. I liked the ambiguity of that. There’s a ruthlessness in his personality that I thought was really interesting, to see characters who behave that badly. But in many ways, he comes from what he thinks is quite a genuine place.”

What did you think of Matt Smith’s performance in House of The Dragon? Tell us in the comments below!

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