Steve Toussaint thanks House of The Dragon for improving black representation in the Game of Thrones fandom

Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon will be here very soon, and fans are very excited to see their favorite characters on-screen. One of the most beloved characters from George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, Corlys Velaryon, The Sea Snake, has been a subject of debate recently, due to the casting of a differently colored actor, Steve Toussaint, something that has also affected him mentally and emotionally. However, he is thankful to be on the show playing a fan-favorite role.

Appearing on the second episode of The Official Game of Thrones podcast, Toussaint talked about how he is thankful for his casting in House of The Dragon and being a part of the Game of Thrones fandom. He said:

“I want to say, thank you because every time we go to a Con, people like us, we have no one to dress up as. [Toussaint laughs] And now we finally have someone.”

He also talked about how he reacted to being racially abused when he got the role, “You know what, Tony, I had no idea. I think, you know, what happens sometimes, is if you live and exist in a particular social bubble, you can forget sometimes [and] think the world thinks like you do. So, where I live, my friends are from everywhere. I have friends of Asian extraction, Chinese extraction, I have Caucasian friends, whatever. We don’t think about those things. It’s not that we don’t see color. Of course, we see color, but it’s not relevant. So, when this thing happened, that was the furthest thing from my mind.”

“And the very first thing that happened, literally, as it was announced … a director that I worked with in Australia put something on social media saying, ‘Hey, Steve Toussaint’s great.’ Somebody responded by saying, ‘Steve Toussaint is an n-word.’ That was the first thing I saw. I was like, ‘This is the world that we live in?’ And then, of course, there were pictures of me and [drawings] of Corlys and [people] saying, ‘Really, should it be this guy?’ … and that’s, in fact, how you and I got in touch, really, because you were a guy that was defending.”

He added, “So, it was a complete and utter shock to me, and that’s not that racism is a shock because … listen, I’m a black man. I have to deal with this a lot. As I said to somebody else today, I’m not an expert in racial abuse and discrimination. I’m just very experienced at receiving it. So, a lot of my friends, we just go, ‘Oh man, that’s just how it is.’

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