One of many ways in which “House of the Dragon” distinguishes itself from the original “Game of Thrones” series is its more diverse cast. Despite the accolades and acclaim that came to “Thrones,” the HBO series was largely dominated by white cast members. In crafting a prequel series, “House of the Dragon” co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal found a smart way to bring a more representative ensemble to Westeros while still keeping in line with George R.R. Martin’s source material: the House Velaryon family is Black.
The decision was not without its backlash, but the casting of Steve Toussaint as the Sea Snake (aka Corlys Velaryon) had a ripple effect on the entire bloodline as seen in the series. Although Condal told TheWrap during an interview for TheGrill that the decision was not as simple as merely deciding to make “House of the Dragon” more diverse.
“I think it was not that simple. I think the reason that it’s been a successful choice, frankly – I mean, not everybody’s ever going to be happy – the reason it was successful is because it was thought out, it wasn’t just done perfunctorily or wasn’t just done to tick a box or to be seen as progressive or to be seen as somebody that’s covering all the bases or anything like that,” Condal said. “It’s 2022, it’s a different era than the shows used to be made in, we have an incredibly diverse audience that’s not only across America, but in multiple countries that speak all sorts of different languages, that represent all the colors under the sun. And it was really important to see some of that reflected up on screen. This is a fantasy world. I think if this was a historical fiction piece, it’d be a more nuanced discussion. But I think simply because of the fantasy world, if we believe in dragons, and shapeshifters and direwolves, we can believe everybody in the story is not white.”
As for why the Velaryons were the right house to make Black, Condal says it’s rooted in something Martin said about the family years ago.
“Why we went to the Velaryons in particular was because that felt like the most fantastical race in the show, and it felt like these were people from a lost continent that we don’t really know that much about,” the showrunner explained. “We know they all silver hair, we know they have an affinity for dragons, some of them. And we know they are seen, as quoted in the books and in the show, as closer to gods than to men. So what does that all look like? It always stuck with me, this article where George had talked about when he set out to write these books, considering making all of the Velaryons Black, and Black people with silver hair, that always really stuck with me as an image.”
Condal also explained that the time period in which “House of the Dragon” takes place is not that far off from the fall of Valyria.
“And I said, ‘Well, you know, Valyria was this enormous continent, a very diverse and well-populated nation that fell into the sea, why couldn’t there have been a line of Black Velaryons in that in that story?’ And then in in this particular time period, we’re not all that far removed from the Doom, it wouldn’t be unbelievable. And I think if you’re willing to take that first leap of suspension of disbelief, you really come to [the idea that] it feels integrated and intrinsic to the show in an organic way.”
The showrunner also added that there was yet another tangible benefit to making the Velaryon family Black: with a cast this large (and with so many similar names), it’s easier to tell the families apart.
“To me, I mean, I don’t even really think about it anymore. There are so many Valerians in the show, having the Velaryon family, having the Sea Snake’s family, look different than the Targaryens is actually really helpful in the casting and in differentiating people on screen and remembering who’s from what house and maybe making it even clearer that Rhaenyra has children of questionable parentage,” he continued. “I think there are a lot of visual benefits that come along with it, and because Corlys has such a rich and diverse family line himself, just simply making that one turn on him to cast Steve Toussaint, his entire family then becomes a diverse cast and it’s a really interesting way to populate the show with a bunch of different faces that you may or may not have seen in another high fantasy show or in the original series.”
Check out our full panel conversation with Condal right here or in the video above.
