*“House of the Dragon” star Steve Toussaint, is the only main Black character on the new HBO series, and many viewers take issue with his casting due to his race.
Toussaint plays Lord Corlys Velaryon a.k.a. “The Sea Snake” in the series, and avid lovers of “Game of Thrones” assumed the character would be depicted as white because his Valyrian ancestors are fair-skinned people with white-blond hair.
As we reported previously, “House of the Dragon” is set 200 years before the events in “Game of Thrones,” and centers on “the height of the Targaryen empire in Westeros—specifically, chronicling what happened before and during the Dance of the Dragons, a destructive civil war between the Targaryens as they vied for the Iron Throne,” per Complex.
George R. R. Martin’s book “Fire & Blood” serves as the basis for the new series. Lord Corlys is not described as white in the novel, but that’s not stopping the fanatics from targeting Toussaint with racial harassment.
READ MORE: ‘House of the Dragon’ Makes History as HBO’s Biggest Series Premiere
#HouseOfTheDragon actor Steve Toussaint slams racist comments from some viewers: “They are happy with a dragon flying … but a rich Black guy? That’s beyond the pale.”@chrisconnelly reports. https://t.co/MgzvOfkkxk pic.twitter.com/9zhnm0TND5
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 24, 2022
“It seems to be very hard for people to swallow,” Toussaint said in an interview with Men’s Health. “They are happy with a dragon flying. They’re happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? That’s beyond the pale.”
Toussaint also pointed out that screen adaptations of Martin’s book series don’t precisely match character descriptions.
“What has been wonderful is for every toxic person that has somehow found their way into my timeline, there have been so many others who have been so supportive and been like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait, this is going to be great!’” Toussaint added. “Even when we were doing certain scenes, there would be supporting artists who would come up and go, ‘It’s great to have this representation.’”
“House of the Dragon” debuted Sunday night and drew 9.986 million viewers across HBO and its HBO Max streaming service. The ratings make it the largest original series premiere in the network’s history.
The series stars Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra, Matt Smith as Rhaenyra’s uncle, Prince Daemon, Rhys Ifans as Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, Olivia Cooke portrays his daughter, Alicent, Steve Toussaint plays Lord Corlys Velaryonand King Viserys will is played by Paddy Considine.
HBO chief Casey Bloys previously told Variety that “it’s probably a pretty good bet” that a second season of the show will be ordered. According to Deadline, HBO spent over $100 million on marketing the new series.
New episodes of “House of the Dragon” airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO.
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