One of the many ways in which “House of the Dragon” differentiates itself from the original “Game of Thrones” series is its more diverse cast. Despite the accolades and accolades that ensued in “Throne,” the HBO series was largely dominated by a white cast. In preparing a prequel series, “House of the Dragon” co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condall found a smart way to bring a more representative ensemble to Westeros while staying in line with George R.R. Martin’s source material: the House of the Valyrian family Black. .
The decision was not without its backlash, but the casting of Steve Toussaint as Sea Snake (aka Corliss Valerian) had a ripple effect on Whole Bloodline as seen in the series. Although Kondal told TheWrap during an interview Grill The decision was not as simple as simply deciding to make “House of the Dragon” more diverse.
“I guess it wasn’t that easy. I think the reason it’s been a successful choice is, frankly — I mean, not everyone is ever going to be happy — the reason it’s successful. that it was thought, it was just not done flawlessly or that it was not done tick a box or to be seen as progressive or to be seen as someone who does all the bases or anything like that,” Kondall said. “It’s 2022, it’s a different era than the show does, we have an incredibly diverse audience that’s not just across America. , but there are many countries that speak all kinds of different languages, that represent all the colors under the sun. And it was really important to see some of them reflected on the screen. It’s a fantasy world. I guess If it was a historical fiction work, it would be a more nuanced discussion. But I think only because of the fictional world, if we believed in dragons, and shapeshifters, and direwolves So we can believe that not everyone in the story is white. ,
As to why Valerian was the perfect home for Black to make, Condall says it’s something Martin said about the family years ago.
“The reason why we went to Valerian in particular was because it felt like the most fictional race on the show, and it felt like they were people from a lost continent that we don’t really know that much about,” Showner said. Explained. “We know they all have silver hair, we know they have an affinity for dragons, some of them. And we know they are seen closer to gods than men, quoted in books and shows So what does this all look like? It’s always stuck with me, this article where George talks about when he set out to write these books, All Valerian Black, and Making Black People with Silver Hair Thoughts, which always stuck with me as an image.
Kondal also points out that the time period in which “House of the Dragon” takes place is not too far from the fall of Valeria.
“And I said, ‘Well, you know, Valyria was this vast continent, a very diverse and well-populated nation that fell into the sea, why couldn’t there be a line of Black Valyrians in that story? ?’ And then in this particular time period, we’re not all that far from doom, it wouldn’t be unbelievable. And I think if you’re willing to take that first leap of suspension of disbelief, you can really get here. [the idea that] It feels integrated and intrinsic to the show in an organic way. ,
The showrunner also noted that there was another tangible benefit to making the Valerian family black: With such a large cast (and with so many similar names), it’s easy to tell the families apart.
“To me, I mean, I don’t really even think about it anymore. There’s a lot of Valerians in the show, being the Valerian family, being Sea Snake’s family, being different from the Targaryens, really in the casting and people on screen. It’s helpful to isolate and remember who is from which household and perhaps making it even more clear that Rainera’s suspected parents have children,” he continued. “I think there’s a lot of visual benefit that comes with it, and because Corlys has such a rich and diverse family line, just to cast Steve Toussaint is doing a turn on him, so his whole family is a diverse family.” The cast becomes and it’s a really interesting way to populate the show with a bunch of different faces that you may or may not have seen in another high fantasy show or original series.
Watch our full panel conversation with Kondal here or in the video above.
