House of the Dragon: Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best and Sonoya Mizuno Join GoT Prequel
‘Game Of Thrones’ prequel ‘House of the Dragon‘ has found four more cast members, as they announce Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best and Sonoya Mizuno will take key roles in the HBO drama.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, the series will tell the story of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The four new castings will see Rhys Ifans take the role of Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon and Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria… However, to make sense of where they fit in, you’ll need to know who the rest of the previously announced cast are playing. They are:
Paddy Considine (The Third Day’, ‘The Outsider’) plays King Viserys Targaryen. Viserys was chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, good men do not necessarily make for great kings.
Olivia Cooke (‘Bates Motel’, ‘Ready Player One’) plays Alicent Hightower. She’s the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. She was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace and a keen political acumen.
Emma D’Arcy (‘Truth Seekers’, ‘Hanna’) portrays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. The king’s first-born child. She is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man.
Matt Smith (‘Doctor Who’, ‘The Crown’) plays Prince Daemon Targaryen. The younger brother of King Viserys and heir to the throne, Daemon is a peerless warrior and a dragonrider who possesses the true blood of the dragon. But it is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air…
Now you know who they are, back to the new cast:
Steve Toussaint will play Lord Corlys Velaryon aka “The Sea Snake.” The lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen, “The Sea Snake,” is the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros. He built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world.
Toussaint has appeared in a range of UK shows, from ‘In the Long Run’, and ‘Our Girl’, to ‘Line of Duty’, and ‘Lewis’, where he played Joseph Moody. He also starred in ‘Doctors’ and ‘The Bill’, along with popping up most recently in Russell T. Davies’ spectacular ‘It’s a Sin’.
Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon. A dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Queen Who Never Was” was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favoured her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male.
Best has appeared in a range of tv and film roles including Sky One’s ‘Lucky Man’, where she played Anna (the estranged wife of James Nesbitt’s Harry), ‘Nurse Jackie’ as Dr Eleanor O’Hara, and movie ‘The King’s Speech’ where she played Wallis Simpson. Most recently she has been starring in Netflix’s ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’.
Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, who loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne.
Ifans is a well-known face to audiences, having appeared in movies such as ‘The Amazing Spider-Man The Lizard’ as Dr Curt Conners (aka The Lizard), along with Richard Curtis’ ‘The Boat That Rocked’ and ‘Notting Hill’. On TV he played Mycroft in ‘Elementary’, and Hector in Epix drama ‘Berlin Station’.
Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria. She came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall, and could have wilted…but instead she rose to become the most trusted – and most unlikely – ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.
Mizuno seems to have made a living starring in slightly off the wall projects, so appearing in a show with dragons really shouldn’t be an issue for her! Most recently she starred in Alex Garland’s wonderfully weird ‘Devs’, having worked previously with him on the movie ‘Ex Machina’. She also starred in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s equally strange ‘Maniac’ for Netflix. On the film side, she also popped up in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and ‘La La Land’.
The new series is co-created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal (‘Colony’, ‘Hercules’), with Miguel Sapochnik and Condal as co-showrunners. Sapochnik’s directing credits include six ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes, including Emmy and DGA honours for “Battle of the Bastards.” He was nominated for another Emmy in 2019 for directing “The Long Night” and won the Emmy for Best Drama Series as an executive producer for the final season.
Additional directors for the show include Clare Kilner (‘The Alienist: Angel of Darkness’, ‘The Wedding Date’) and Geeta V. Patel (‘Meet the Patels’, ‘The Witcher’). Greg Yaitanes (‘Banshee’, ‘House’) is director and co-executive producer. Sapochnik, Condal and Martin also exec produce, alongside Vince Gerardis, Sara Lee Hess and Ron Schmidt. Brilliant ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Westworld’ composer Ramin Djawadi will return to score the series.
‘House Of The Dragon‘ is set to premiere in 2022 on HBO & HBO Max in the USA. As it is airing on the HBO channel in the US, it should fall under Sky’s overall deal and air on Sky Atlantic in the UK (the deal only covers HBO channel series and not shows which are purely HBO Max properties.)
