House of the Dragon Stars Prepared for THAT Intimate Scene for 7 Months (And It Paid Off)
The stars of the series approached the filming of the sex scenes with a full sense of responsibility.
The creators of House of the Dragon do not shy away from explicit scenes: the first season featured both a bold brothel scene between Rhaenyra and Daemon and a more modest scene between Rhaenyra and Ser Criston Cole.
The Game of Thrones crew has been criticized for their approach to filming intimate scenes, but House of the Dragon is different.
House of Dragon star Fabien Frankel, who played Cole, said it took seven months to plan the sex scene with Milly Alcock, who played young Rhaenyra.
Speaking about the scene, Fabien noted that he did not want it to seem out of place. According to him, the scene was meant to be as real as possible:
“It was something we talked about over seven months. […] The big thing for me was about it not feeling like another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene, cause it’s just not like that… It’s awkward, especially when you are young.”
The actor admitted that he and Milly even discussed how the actor should remove the armor to make it look natural, as it would in real life. Moreover, the actors met with an intimacy coordinator to discuss all the details.
And it is worth noting that all the preparations and efforts paid off. Although Criston Cole is far from being a fan favorite, most viewers agreed that the scene was sensual and gentle.
However, another intimate scene that took place in a brothel was not so tender. The visit to the brothel ended in a rather unusual way: Daemon first kissed Rhaenyra and then rejected her.
The kiss, as Alcock recalls, was nothing out of the ordinary: the actress and Matt Smith managed to become friends by that moment. But the visit itself was much more interesting.
In fact, Alcock and Smith were kept in the dark about what place their characters were going to look like and what exactly they were going to see. As a result, the actress recalls, the extras and scenery managed to surprise her:
“Our director made sure that we hadn’t seen any of the brothel stuff until we were shooting. So, that was our first time walking through the brothel, and he’s guiding her through the room with all of these other bodies. So, that was quite shocking.”
It will be a long time before the fans will get to see what House of the Dragon creators have in store for season 2 – the estimated release date for the second season is summer 2024.
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, New York Post