We’ve been waiting for it for almost two years! Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” starts Monday June 17 on Canal+ (and not before 2025 on RTS). As a reminder, the series takes place almost 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and is adapted from the novel “Fire and Blood” by George RR Martin, released in 2011.
We approached this prequel with a mixture of suspicion and excitement before being blown away by the second part of the season, not far from being a masterpiece. On Monday, the story will plunge us back into death, hatred and madness, surrounded by acrid smoke left by the formidable dragons.
In the gallery of characters in “House of the Dragon”, as immense as that of “Game of Thrones”, we wanted to talk to the rare couple who attract our sympathy, and not just because they joined the camp of the Blacks rather than that of the Greens. Interview with Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, played by English actress Eve Best, 52 years old, and Lord Corlys Velaryon, nicknamed “the Sea Serpent”, played by Steve Toussaint, also English, 59 years old.
How would you define your on-screen couple compared to the other couples in the series?
Eve Best: (She laughs.) And adult! Real, in fact. I feel like we have a real relationship that is based on conversation, compromise, collaboration, and love. There is chemistry and a deep physical connection. But also all the other things that constitute a healthy, serious and lasting and very well tested relationship.
ST: Look at the other couples. You have Aegon and Helena. She is his sister. There is Daemoan and Rhaenyra. It’s his niece. Our relationship is healthy. And I think that’s why people will hopefully support us.
What is the biggest challenge your characters, Rhaenys and Corlys, face in season 2?
EB: In season 1, they faced huge challenges. We lost our daughter, our son, a brother. But also our beloved grandson. I also thought for a long time that Corlys had died at sea. But we were always a couple. And I think one of the biggest challenges is that our marriage that was steadfast begins to no longer be. Something emerges from the past and comes between the two.
ST: Rhaenys desperately wants to discuss it. But not Corlys. Which is not good. Until now, his way of doing things was to get on his boat and disappear for a few years. But this time he can’t escape.
“House of the Dragon is a combination of epic, tragic, spiritual moments that concern all the characters, from the pest control to the king”
What was your reaction when you read the script for season 2?
ST: It’s a very emotional season. Not just for the two of us but for several other characters. I really liked that, because after Season 1 set the scene, we now have the opportunity to explore each of these complex characters much more deeply and see other sides of them.
EB: For my part, there is one thing that I do quite often. It’s like a kind of test for myself: I didn’t read the scripts beforehand. So I really experienced everything without asking myself any questions, the first time. I remember loving witnessing the trauma that everyone goes through. But I was also really struck by something I also loved about “Game of Thrones” — and I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons the show is so successful. In the midst of all these terrible things, there is very often wit. And it reminds me of Shakespeare’s writing. So you don’t stay on a dark trajectory but you broaden the frame. I think it’s very clever.
Rhaenys is “the queen that never was,” and this story also deals with the injustices suffered by women in a patriarchal society. How do you think she is a source of inspiration in our society today?
EB: The “Game of Thrones” books could not be written today as they were, because the world has moved on. This is a post #metoo generation, women who are starting to be placed and place themselves in leadership positions. I think the question we’re asking in ‘House of The Dragon’ kind of reflects what’s going on in the world, which is: how is it possible to be in these positions of power in what was originally an intensely masculine setting, with masculine values, without sacrificing its femininity? By femininity, I mean an energy of collaboration and love, in the face of a dominant, aggressive and destructive energy. And I think Rhaenys’s modus operandi in this whole season is to encourage Rhaenyra, to keep Alicent at arm’s length, and to imagine how they could lead in a feminine way.
“House of The Dragon” has a lot in common with theater. Did you approach it as a play?
EB: It actually feels like we’re watching a play. Especially in season 1 where we were all together most of the time. My favorite moment is when we start in the morning, and there are only the actors and the director to do a little rehearsal and think about how we are going to shoot the scene. And then there is the writing. Very Shakespearean, as I said. A combination of epic, tragic, spiritual moments that concern all the characters, from the pest control to the king.
ST: There is also the way people speak, these speeches which can sometimes be very long. It’s not essential to have had a long theater career, but it definitely helps.
