‘House of the Dragon’: Jefferson Hall Calls Playing Twins a ‘Nightmare’
In House of the Dragon, Jefferson Hall has not one but two roles. The actor portrays twins Jason and Tyland Lannister, who were introduced in episode 3. Despite their similar appearances, the brothers are as different as night and day. The actor admitted that it wasn’t easy tackling both these roles in the same show.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 3.]
Jefferson Hall portrays twins Tyland and Jason Lannister in ‘House of the Dragon’
House of the Dragon Episode 3 introduced Jefferson Hall’s characters, twins Jason and Tyland Lannister. Tyland, the younger brother, is a knight who becomes the new Master of Ships on King Viserys’ Small Council. Tyland tries to inform Viserys about the urgent issues surrounding the war for the Stepstones, but he won’t hear about it on his son’s name day.
Tyland’s twin brother Jason could not be more different. “In George’s [R.R. Martin] world, the firstborn twin is the one that gets all the perks, receives the majority of the inheritance and the kingdom,” Hall told Vulture. “Being a minute older, Jason has grown up with this sense of entitlement that he will be the Lord of Casterly Rock and Tyland will not.”
Jason hopes to marry Rhaenyra, but when he suggests this to Viserys, it appears to rub the king the wrong way. Rhaenyra is equally unimpressed by Jason’s smarmy behavior and clearly has no intention of marrying him or anyone else for that matter.
Hall called portraying the twins a ‘nightmare’
If Jefferson Hall looks familiar to House of the Dragon fans, that may be thanks to his brief role in Game of Thrones. The actor portrayed Ser Hugh of the Vale, a knight who was killed during a joust with Gregor Clegane.
Hall admits that portraying twin brothers on House of the Dragon is no easy task, even with more advanced technology like CGI. “It’s a nightmare,” he told Vulture. “Well, I’ve always wanted to work with myself — I’m a big fan — so that was good. But they say never meet your heroes, so there was that. [Laughs.]”
“Technically, I worked with a wonderful chap named Andy who was playing the other brother depending on who I was playing, adopting mannerisms for each brother,” Hall added. “He was very patient with my petulance and frustrations because it was demanding in that respect. But it was fun through the scenes where you’re sitting next to yourself, essentially giving each other disparaging looks.”
Rhaenyra may still marry in the next few episodes of ‘House of the Dragon’
Later in the episode, Viserys reveals another motivation to his daughter for why he wishes her to marry — he wants to see her happy. That likely rules out Jason Lannister as an eligible suitor. However, Lyonel Strong suggests that Rhaenyra should marry Laenor Velaryon. The trailer for House of the Dragon shows Rhaenyra walking beside Laenor on the beach, suggesting their courtship may begin soon.
House of the Dragon airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
