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TL;DR:

  • Emily Carey and Paddy Considine share several House of the Dragon scenes.
  • The Alicent Hightower and King Viserys actors connected over reality TV.
  • Paddy Considine was eager to jump into a role like Viserys Targaryen.
Emily Carey and Paddy Considine in 'House of the Dragon' Episode 2. They're facing one another and holding eachother's hands.
Emily Carey and Paddy Considine in ‘House of the Dragon’ | Ollie Upton/HBO

House of the Dragon Episode 1 set the stage for some intense infighting between the members of House Targaryen, but episode 2 saw a new player joining the fight for the Iron Throne. Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) has been thrust into this political match by her father, who pushes her to spend time with King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). As such, Carey and Considine’s characters have several scenes alone together. And apparently, the actors connected over their love of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 2 sees King Viserys deciding to marry Alicent Hightower

House of the Dragon Episode 2 sees King Viserys deciding to marry Alicent Hightower, a turn of events that stemmed from their private chats with one another. Following Aemma Arryn’s (Sian Brooke) death, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) pushes his daughter to comfort the king. And the two get along surprisingly well, both bonding over the loss of their loved ones.

The characters weren’t the only ones connecting during those House of the Dragon scenes, either. With Alicent and Viserys spending so much time together, Paddy Considine and Emily Carey got to know one another on the House of the Dragon set. And they discovered they both love the same television show.

Paddy Considine and Emily Carey talked about reality TV on the ‘House of the Dragon’ set

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Carey discussed her relationship with her House of the Dragon co-star Paddy Considine. According to the Alicent Hightower actor, the pair came to know one another through their love of a certain reality TV show: RuPaul’s Drag Race.

“Paddy is a massive Drag Race fan, and so am I,” Carey recalled. “So I’d come into set and be like, ‘Hey, Paddy, did you watch the new episode of All Stars?’ He’d be like, ‘Oh my God, yes! Let’s talk about it.’ And so that’s how we’d start every morning.”

It’s certainly an upbeat way to kick off a day on the set of House of the Dragon, which tends to get intense with all its political maneuvering. But that hasn’t stopped the cast from enjoying their time behind the scenes. And according to Paddy Considine, he was eager to dig into a role like Viserys Targaryen.

Paddy Considine loves playing his ‘conflicted’ character

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Clearly, the engaging conversations on set are a plus to joining House of the Dragon — but Paddy Considine has also been excited to dig into such a complex character.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Considine admitted he didn’t want a minor role in the Game of Thrones prequel. And upon reading the script, he found King Viserys was precisely what he was hoping for.

“I didn’t want to be in the background waving a sword,” Considine admitted. “I got the first three scripts and it was a really rich, beautiful, and conflicted character. A beautiful character. I’ve been waiting for a role like this, if I’m being honest.”

Considine has portrayed the depth of that character well during the first two episodes, and we hope to see more of him before the series is through. We’ll find out next week how his marriage to Alicent Hightower fares.

New episodes of House of the Dragon air every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

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Amanda Mullen

Writer - Streaming

I’m an entertainment writer who can usually be found by the coffee pot, with my nose in a book, or still crying over ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ I’m Team Oxford Comma, and the quickest way to my heart is through Baby Yoda.

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