“I have to mime, at like 5 miles an hour”: Real Truth Behind Fabien Frankel’s Action Scenes in ‘House of the Dragon’ Will Change Your Mind About His Character
- Fabien Frankel's Criston Cole is not actually riding a horse in House of the Dragon.
- A pickup truck is used to film horse-riding scenes in battle.
- Ewan Mitchell shares how people are afraid to be in his way.
House of the Dragon is becoming a bigger name in the streaming wars day by day. The show has garnered mass praise for its nuanced narrative, intriguing characters, and thrilling twists. The second season of the show is currently underway with new episodes coming out every week. From Fabien Frankel to Ewan Mitchell, the cast has experienced a significant uptick in their popularity ever since the show premiered.
In the meantime, they are doing everything in their power to promote the show and spread the word so that more people tune in every week to witness grandeur in action.
Fabien Frankel shares the true story behind his action scenes in House of the Dragon
Fabien Frankel and Ewan Mitchell of House of the Dragon recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to talk about the ongoing season. The duo are pretty close pals in House of the Dragon season 2 as they strategize how to sustain power and the Iron Throne while defeating the Black faction, which includes Rhaenyra and her allies.
Frankel, who plays Criston Cole on the HBO prequel show, opened up about the process and practice that goes into his action sequences on House of the Dragon. Cole is the Commander of the Kingsguard and even the Hand of the King now since Aegon II fired Otto Hightower from that position. Frankel revealed on the show,
I actually don’t ride a horse that much, from a safety perspective. I don’t know if that’s a reflection of my riding abilities. Well, you’d think, but, actually, what it is, is that I actually ride a bucking bronco on the back of a pickup truck from about the mid-1990s. And then I have to mime, at like 5 miles an hour, the truck goes, and I kind of mime, like, I’m riding.
This revelation comes as a shock to most people since they actually thought he was riding a horse, including the show’s host Fallon. It’s one thing not being able to ride a dragon, but fans hoped the mighty Criston Cole would at least ride a real horse to film the action scenes. Apparently not.
Nevertheless, the armor and the heavy suit that he wears as a Knight must weigh heavily on him, making it even harder to move around, let alone ride a horse in reality.
Ewan Mitchell shares how people are afraid of him
In the same episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Mitchell shared a bizarre experience at the airport in Paris where all the other passengers around him moved away when they saw him coming. The actor shared how people actually made way for him to pass through, and that was not because of his star power alone. He added,
People look at me like they want to run away. Yeah. I went to various airports today to get here. I was walking from one end of Paris airport to the other, and people would move out of the way for me. I was in awe of how much they were scared of me.
The mark of a true actor is precisely this as people perceive him as Aemond Targaryen, a fierce and cunning prince of Westeros. Mitchell’s portrayal of Aemond has truly led the masses to think that he is a bad man when he and his character couldn’t be more different. In reality, Mitchell is a huge nerd about the history of the House Targaryen and often wins trivia contests that take place during promotions.
House of the Dragon is streaming on Max.
