Collider: How did you wrap your head around something like this?
What helped you in your approach to and understanding of this character?
Was there one thing that you always came back to while you were shooting the season?
That played a massive part for me.
I would go back to that quite a lot, actually, and certain pieces of music.
Sometimes he wants to live here, sometimes he wants to live there, which is so interesting.
Image via HBO
He is genuinely unpredictable, even to himself.
Hes his own worst enemy and his own best friend.
Hes a very complex entity.
Image via HBO
This seems like a character like no other character.
Is that challenging, to always be tackling that, or is that fun?
SMITH: I think he is.
Image via HBO
Its both challenging and fun, certainly.
You want to do it justice, so Ive tried to lean into that unpredictability.
I hope that comes through.
Image via HBO
Hes definitely somebody where you really have no idea what to make of him.
It feels like the gears are always moving steps ahead of everybody else.
SMITH: I think so, yeah.
Image via HBO
Hes a contradiction, even to his own soul, if that makes sense.
Its like he looks at his shadow, and his shadow looks back.
And then, he moves off, and his shadow stays still.
Image via HBO
And then, youll see his shadow around the corner.
What would you say is his biggest guide for things?
SMITH: His brother is his biggest guidance, really.
I dont think hes interested in power.
Fabien, what would you say it is that drives your character?
What is his motivation?
FRANKEL: I think his motivation is fighting.
He loves to fight.
He loves to compete.
Its the sport of competition that he enjoys.
Hes good at it.
FRANKEL: Yeah, definitely.
And I think the shows been beautifully cast, actually.
FRANKEL: Yeah, I completely agree.
Its very rare that you have such an amazing cast.
Ill long for a cast this good again.
Whats it like to do something like the big jousting tournament that was in the first episode?
Thats not something you get to do every day, so what was that like to take on something?
SMITH: A lot of fun.
FRANKEL: Yeah, it was great fun.
SMITH: I enjoyed all that stuff.
FRANKEL: We really did.
It was also fun to develop the style in which your character fights.
And I remember him figuring that out, on the day.
It was really interesting to have someone choose that way of fighting.
For me, Criston is meticulous and hard work fighting.
With Criston, he enjoys the sport of it.
He puts himself in it.
I dont consider him a beautiful fighter.
I think he actually is just very instinctive.
Its one thing to do all that and to prepare for all that.
Its another to put on the armor to do it.
How do you feel about the armor?
SMITH: Poor Fabs was in it all day, every day.
I was quite lucky.
I wore it every once in a while.
The armor is quite heavy and cumbersome.
It looks good, though.
FRANKEL: Yeah, it looks great.
I felt a bit like Heath Ledger in A Knights Tale.
I always say that because he fights in armor with no sigil on it.
That was quite an iconic film for me in my youth.
Fabien, what can you say about what your character has in store for him?
Is he going to regret the position he finds himself in?
FRANKEL: I think youll have to ask him at the end of episode 10.
The performances, like we said before, are so brilliant.
They set up all the characters to have very interesting futures.
It certainly shows that you’re able to have dysfunctional families in any genre and any time period.
All families are just that families.
And this family is no different to any family now, apart from the obvious stuff.
Like the beheadings and dragons.
SMITH: Yeah, and all the other stuff that goes on.
Matt, who would you say that Daemon can trust the most, and who can most trust him?
SMITH: His dragon can trust him.
And his immediate family, Rhaenyra and his brother, can trust him.
But you never know with Daemon, though.
Depending on how hes feeling.
FRANKEL: And how well he slept.
SMITH: Pretty much.
How do you view the relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra?
SMITH: Its all connected to his brother, certainly initially.
It changes Daemons attitude, or changes my attitude as an actor, on a really primitive level.
Something shifts and changes.
Ultimately, it all leads back to his brother.
Its a very complicated situation.
I love how this huge, epic story feels like a small family drama, in so many ways.
SMITH: Yeah, thats the hope.
And you never know whos going to be the one causing the most trouble.
SMITH: Thats good.
You just dont want to be at the holiday family dinner.
FRANKEL: No, you dont.
SMITH: If there were an episode where they go for family therapy, that would just be brilliant.
FRANKEL: Season 2.
SMITH: Can you imagine?
FRANKEL: That would be great.
They would just slaughter each other.
House of the Dragonairs on Sunday nights on HBO and is available to stream at HBO Max.
