Hot on the heels of what can only really be described as a bizarre performance in Morbius (not to mention a dire turn in Terminator Genisys a few years back), Doctor Who alum Matt Smith is looking to rebound with House of the Dragon. The Game of Thrones prequel arrives a little later this month, and the actor will play Daemon Targaryen, King Viserys' younger brother.
This story is set 200 years before the events of the original series, and Smith warns that his character is every bit as duplicitous and twisted as we've come to expect from this family.
"Daemon is there to cause chaos and piss people off because, simply, it entertains him," the actor tells Empire Online. "[Daemon] and [Hand of the King] Otto [Hightower] loathe one another. They’re winding each other up, needling one another. And in the middle of it is Paddy, who plays Viserys. They’re both vying for his attention and his love."
Of course, in a show about the Targaryens, there will be dragons, and that's something Smith also got to experience.
"There’s a very symbiotic connection between the dragon rider and the dragon," he explains. "You’ve got to master it from an early age, and it’s a death-defying experience trying to tame it. For want of a better analogy, it’s a bit like Avatar."
HBO Max has put a lot into this first Game of Thrones spinoff series, and it needs to succeed after they pulled the plug on a pilot that starred Naomi Watts bit will never see the light of day. There are already plans to tell a number of other stories in Westeros, including a sequel that revolves around Kit Harington's Jon Snow.
Take a look at Smith suited up in House of the Dragon below:
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