TheQuartering [7/28/2022]
One House of the Dragon actor is predicting that Game of Thrones fans may find themselves divided on the new prequel series from HBO when it finally airs.
Gavin Spokes, who plays Lyonel Strong in the series, told PEOPLE: “Some are going to love, and some are going to hate” the new show, which follows the Targaryen dynasty as it plunges into civil war 200 years before Game of Thrones begins.
“You can’t please all the people all the time,” Spokes said at Wednesday’s Los Angeles premiere for the new series. “I think we have just tried to put as much work and love into it as we can. If people aren’t gonna like it then that’s their opinion.”
Spokes explained that his character serves on King Viserys Targaryen’s (Paddy Considine) small council as the Master of Laws, a position held by Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony) only in the first season of Game of Thrones. At the new series’ outset, Strong is also the Lord of Harrenhal, a significant location in the original show, according to HBO.
“[Strong] always believes that he is trying to do the right thing,” Spokes told PEOPLE of his character. “Whether he is or not is for us to judge but he’s quite a decent person.”
At the premiere, Spokes told PEOPLE that the scale of production on House of the Dragon “was even bigger” than he expected when he first walked on to the set.
“It’s not a green screen. They built a full castle,” he said. “[Series co-creator Ryan Condal] was showing me around, like this is the chamber, and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to buy a castle?’ They built a whole castle north of London, and it’s extraordinary. And then extras arrive in beautiful costumes and amazing props, and you are sitting in Westeros.”