Paddy Considine has absolutely killed it with his performance as King Viserys Targaryen in the House of the Dragon. The way he kept the audience’s eyes stuck to him was most definitely a manner of pure adoration and respect. To say that he gave his all to that role would clearly be an understatement. The way he brought the role to life was absolutely mesmerizing without a second doubt.
Despite the fame he captured because of it, there was a strong chance he would not have been a part of the series at all. In fact, he could have been a part of its parent series, Game of Thrones instead. However, he found no interest in the show for one particular reason. Dragons.
Paddy Considine Did Not Want to be part of a House of Dragons
Paddy Considine is no stranger to the world of George R. R. Martin’s works now. Having taken the world by storm with his performance as King Viserys Targaryen, it is of little doubt that he could ever see himself outside of a world surrounded by dragons. However, in an interview with the Sunday Times, he revealed a statement that is contradictory to the same.
“He said, ‘It’s about dragons,’” Considine stated. “I went, ‘No thanks.’ I didn’t even read it.”
He revealed that the actor had once been offered a role in the iconic Game of Thrones series. Seeing him now in its prequel, it would be rather unusual to imagine Considine as a part of the franchise early on. It would seem that he thought so too. In fact, the only reason he ever rejected the role in the first place was the involvement of dragons in the show. Now that would seem extremely ironic seeing just the fame that he is connected to in a show that has the word Dragon in it.
In Pain There Is Hope
While talking to the Sunday Times, Paddy Considine also opened up about where the inspiration for his character in the House of the Dragon even came from. For the actor, it was his mother and her will to fight her diabetes that became an unlikely inspiration. To find happiness in the worst of times, to seek comfort when there is none; that is hope.
“If anything Viserys was based on my mother. She was the most powerful woman I knew, for a long time. Until she neglected herself,” Considine stated. “By the end of her life my mum had diabetes. I adored my mum. But her illness became her comfort zone. It was tragic to see that decline and I put that — plus her kindness and her love — into Viserys”
Considine saw his mother somewhere in King Viserys Targaryen and he did his very best to channel her through him. Tragedies also have flowers that bloom in the end, that flower was Paddy Considine.
