Matt Smith’s ‘House of the Dragon’ Casting Closely Resembled How Peter Dinklage Landed his Game of Thrones Role and Its a Testament To Their Talents

Narrating the events that led to the decline of House Targaryen, House of the Dragon, starring Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, and more, is currently airing the second season. Created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon is based on the Fire & Blood novel and is set nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Ardent fans and critics have appreciated the television series for its storytelling, visual effects, and character development. All the actors on the show have managed to impress the audience with their spectacular and convincing performances. The casting director recently shared about how Matt Smith was picked for the part of Daemon Targaryen.

House of the Dragon casting director calls Matt Smith’s version of Daemon Targaryen the ‘most profound’

The casting director of House of the Dragon, Kate Rhodes James, in a recent interview with Vanity Fair decided to spill the tea and revealed how she, along with the makers of the show, decided to cast Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen. She described Matt Smith as an extraordinary actor who brought it all to the table. Rhodes James shared,

Daemon has no redeeming features, and that’s a good thing. I think that’s fun to play. I mean, you know in the first series he’s seducing his niece; he’s at the w***e house every five seconds. He’s completely out of control and vicious with it. I knew in my heart of hearts that Matt could play that.

Kate James added that most of the work that Smith had done by then showcased a sympathetic side to him, but they were not looking for that. They needed someone who would just go for it, and so when he was called in for the audition, he was phenomenal. The casting director joked that Smith had to read his lines with her, which was mortifying for him, but they did it, and he just went with it.

He’s like a jazz musician when he’s sort of scatting around, and it’s just real joy. And we started to see that his version of Daemon was actually the most profound version of Daemon that we needed for the story. It was extraordinary. It was just a slam dunk at that point. He was our Daemon.

Rhodes James also admitted that it might be funny, but she cannot remember if they had anyone else in mind except Smith for the part. She added that the easy way to have gone with Daemon, which wouldn’t have turned interesting, was to get someone with big muscles, but that would have been boring.

She mentioned during the interview that for a complex character like Daemon Targaryen, one needs to have someone who can not only physically be that person but also be able to navigate those different relationships. By relationships, she meant between his brother, his niece, his aunt, and everyone, which Matt Smith does skillfully. She lastly added that it is an incredibly brilliant platform for him.

Matt Smith shares one common thing with Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage

One of the most profound characters on Game of Thrones was Peter Dinklage, who played Tyrion Lannister, which earned him four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. According to Winter is Coming, he was the first choice to play the character on-screen, but he was not very keen on saying yes to the part.

Creator George R.R. Martin described in James Hibberd’s Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon that they knew that the character would be the trickiest too. He shared that they agreed that they wanted an actual dwarf to play the character of Tyrion and not do what The Lord of the Rings did with John Rhys-Davies. He added that if Peter Dinklage had turned down the role, they would have faced a lot more challenges.

But the actor was not very enthusiastic about playing a character that was called ‘imp’ or ‘half-man,’ and as soon as he heard Game of Thrones, he said no. He said,

In fantasy, everybody speaks in broad strokes. There’s no intimacy. There’s dragons and big speeches, and there’s nothing to hold onto. And for somebody my size, it’s a f***king death, the opposite of the activism I was involved with.

But David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ pilot script convinced him, and he told them that their writing overcomes the stereotype when people least expect it. He noted that that is what he thought they were doing with Tyrion, as in another show, they’d be more focused on the people on the throne looking down upon his character. He just added one rule to not have an enormous dwarf beard.

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Peter Dinklage helped Lena Headey get the role of Cersei Lannister and rest his story. It can be seen how Matt Smith and Peter Dinklage are two profound characters in their respective shows and share one common thing: they were the only choice for their characters, which is very rare. Both of them are brilliant actors, which makes sense of why the makers wanted them.

House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are streaming on HBO Max.