House Of The Dragon Star Steve Toussaint's Favorite Game Of Thrones Battle Features Jon Snow At His Best
The first season of "House of the Dragon" — the prequel to HBO's wildly popular drama "Game of Thrones" — premiered on August 21, 2022. With the premiere of the new series came a whole new slew of characters for viewers to keep up with each week. The series, which was created by Ryan Condal and book series writer himself, George R. R. Martin, is set about 200 years before the events of "Game of Thrones." It depicts the leadup to the decline of House Targaryen and the war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons."
The slew of new characters includes the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine), Viserys' younger brother Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Viserys' daughter and the heir to the throne Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy, Milly Alcock in younger years) and Rhaenyra's childhood best friend and Viserys' second wife Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke, Emily Carey in younger years).
Another notable character is Lord Corlys Velaryon, played by Steve Toussaint, the Lord of Driftmark and the head of House Velaryon. Corlys heads one of the wealthiest families in the Seven Kingdoms and is known as "the Sea Snake" because of his status as one of the most famous seafarers in the history of Westeros.
Toussaint may be a part of the "House of the Dragon" cast, but he also has opinions about its predecessor, "Game of Thrones." And when it comes to the battles of the series, Toussaint prefers one that showcases Jon Snow (Kit Harington) at his best.
Toussaint favors Battle of the Bastards
In a video for HBO Max, "House of the Dragon" star Steve Toussaint, alongside his co-star Eve Best (who plays Viserys' cousin, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen), ask each other "get to know me" questions. During the discussion, Best, reading from a card, asks Toussaint to name his favorite "Game of Thrones" moment or battle.
An answer came to Toussaint immediately. The actor responded, "Oh, easy. Battle of the Bastards." For those who need a refresher, Season 6 Episode 9, "Battle of the Bastards," saw Jon Snow battling it out against Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), the vile husband of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), for control of Winterfell.
Toussaint went on to explain why he liked that moment so much. He said, "And not just because ['House of the Dragon' showrunner] Miguel [Sapochnik] directed it, but I watched it, and I was like, 'Oh my god, that is awesome, it's actually like being in a battle except I'd never been in a battle so I wouldn't have the faintest idea.'"
Sapochnik has spoken about the challenges of pulling of the Battle of the Bastards
Following the release of the "Game of Thrones" Season 6 penultimate episode, "Battle of the Bastards," in 2016, the episode's director, Miguel Sapochnik (who now serves as a showrunner for "House of the Dragon"), spoke with Entertainment Weekly about pulling off the impressive, expansive battle scene. First and foremost, the scene took 25 days to shoot, averaging 10 hours a day, which is already hard for most to wrap their heads around. But, the most challenging aspect, according to Sapochnik, was dealing with the practical details of the whole thing.
Sapochnik said, "The sheer logistics of staging a battle scene this size was like a battle in and of itself, minus the life/death thing. For example: The number of days to shoot it, where we shoot it. What happens if it rains? How do you feed 600 people every day? Don't get me wrong, I personally don't have to decide that stuff. But the creative decisions I make are heavily influenced by simple practical concerns." The director then gave examples of having to figure out a way to make 500 extras look like 8,000 people or how to motivate the actors to shoot through mud and rain over and over again for nearly a month.
The director also explained the scheduling difficulties, stating, "Finding a way to cram in and organize everything so that we would use every single minute well in order to squeeze every ounce we could out of our time was the most logistically complicated thing I've ever been involved in."