“House of the Dragon” star Steve Toussaint, who plays Lord Corlys Velaryon a.k.a. “The Sea Snake” on the series, slammed viewers of the “Game of Thrones” prequel who took issue with his casting.
“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.”
While Lord Corlys is never explicitly described as white in George R. R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” from which “House of the Dragon” is adapted, many imagined the character to be fair-skinned because his ancestors are Valyrian and his hair is described in the book as “Targaryen white-blonde.”
However, as Toussaint notes, those who feel his casting is unrealistic have no problem buying into the existence of dragons and magic — not to mention that screen adaptations often stray from matching exact character descriptions in the source material.
“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” landed the biggest series premiere in HBO’s history on Sunday, drawing nearly 10 million viewers after debuting its first episode.