Matthew Needham on Larys: “It’s nice to play a quiet person who watches”

Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon is full of grey characters, with varying shades of morality. Matthew Needham’s Larys Strong certainly falls in the darker spectrum. He has been compared to the likes of Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and Varys (Conleth Hill), only a lot more deranged, sadistic, and evil. He is someone who watches from the shadows and pulls the strong from behind the curtains, and there is a certain kind of power that rests in the hands of characters like him.

Needham recently talked to ComingSoon.net about playing Larys, and said, “It’s always nice to play someone who is very different from yourself. It’s nice to play a quiet person who watches, especially on a show like this. It was very pleasurable to be quiet on scenes and observe brilliant artists work.”

“That’s all from the script and following clues. He says, ‘When you’re never invited to speak you learn to observe.” You know you watch. This is a very quiet person who has a very debilitating deformity in a world to people who are physically different. It makes so much sense that this is a guy who sort of sat quietly and waited and watched.”

He added, “I suppose I could relate to that. I’m not outgoing — I’m not an extroverted sort of person. So, I could sympathize with somebody who would rather take stock of the situation rather than inserting himself into it dynamically all of the time. That’s all script, really, and talking with directors and trying things out and staring at people creepily. [Laughs]”

What do you think of Larys Strong on House of The Dragon? Tell us in the comments below!

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