Each dragon “has its own personality” in House Of The Dragon – Exclusive | TV series

If there’s one thing you want from a game of thrones prequel series called Dragon House, there are plenty of those scaly, dipping, fire-breathing titular monsters. In thrones, dragons were almost mythical, with Daenerys Targaryen bringing three of them to life – Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion – long after the remarkable beasts had been deemed extinct. The dragon action created some of the most memorable and thrilling moments in the entire series (“Dracarys!”), and so learning that there are a total of 17 flying fire-eaters in the new spin-off show, nine of which we’ll meet in the first season (confirmed by co-runner Miguel Sapochnik), is music to our ears.

The biggest task for Sapochnik and his team in the face of these impetuous creatures? Find out what they look like. “I have a book that contains hundreds of [concept] designs,” says Sapochnik. “The first thing you want is not to do Drogon. So I came up with a whole theory of how there were three different types of dragons, based on their different skulls. We came up with all kinds of things. But in the end, we ended up in Drogon,” he laughs. “There’s something about Drogon. It’s like the Millennium Falcon. seem quite familiar, they are most certainly not All The same. “Each new dragon has its own personality. This is what happens now in our last part of the animation – we apply personal character traits to each of the dragons,” says Sapochnik. a [bad] leg. Another is much more like an eagle, because she’s a little neurotic. And another is like a grumpy old granny. Not the type with a cheeky Werthers Original bag in her purse, we guess.

For the Targaryens, as seen with Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys in game of thrones, the bond they share with their dragons is incredibly important and intuitive. “There’s a very symbiotic connection between the dragon rider and the dragon,” says Matt Smith, who plays Daemon. “You have to tame it from an early age, and it’s a death-defying experience to try to tame it. For lack of a better analogy, it’s kind of like Avatar.” For the Dragon House cast, connecting with their dragons’ mechanical replacement was a bit more fun. “We had an animatronic male, which is controlled by a device that the director can use to plan each flight path,” recalls Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra. “Honestly, after doing my first day on the back, what I took away was that every production member should have the right to try. They should allocate time slots. The most I have had to do was wipe the smile off my face, because I can’t stress enough how exciting this is. Who’s up for a Dragon House interactive experience? The queue starts here…

Read the full Empire Dragon House feature film – speaking to showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, as well as stars Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith and Rhys Ifans, and packed with exclusive footage – in the next issue, on sale Thursday August 4 and available for pre-order online here. Dragon House airing on Sky Atlantic/NOW from August 22.