HBO
SPOILER ALERT! This story contains plot details from Episode 4 of The Dragon House on HBO.
War always has its heartbreaking casualties, and the epic battle that followed at the end of Sunday’s episode Game Of Thrones was no exception: fans had to witness the death of a key character after a spectacular dance between two dragons.
Cursed be you, Aemond, and your gigantic Vhagar!
Here, the last Westerosian to meet her maker talks about those final moments and what she’ll miss most about being a blonde-haired royal in a violent world.
DEADLINE Have you seen the whole episode?
EVE BEST (Princess Rhaenys Targaryen) No, I haven’t seen any of that. I haven’t even seen the first season. It’s like hearing yourself on someone else’s answering machine; you hate the sound of their voice so much. It’s kind of like that, magnified a million times. Also, because I have a theater background, I don’t usually check. I’m impressed by a lot of young actors now who are so saturated with screens all the time, and they’re comfortable just going to the monitors and being quite objective, which is a great skill. I get distracted too easily and then a little disgusted. I’d love to watch it. I hear it’s really great.
DEADLINE There is total fear when Vhagar goes for your dragon’s neck. I screamed.
BEST I knew they were doing that. The closest thing I saw was when we were shooting that whole sequence. The director had marked everything up and they created a little cartoon version of the whole sequence so I could see what we were trying to do. I’m really glad it worked out.
DEADLINE Did they give you artistic freedom to throw yourself into death? Was it your choice to raise your arms like that?
BEST It was my choice. I think they wanted a moment to hold on and then let go. It was a very natural thing, actually. It was kind of a peaceful moment after all that. During the shoot, there was a lot of preparation. It was the last thing I shot. We were doing this whole sequence at the end of the shoot. It was a special day and then[showrunner]Ryan Condal came in and gave a speech. It was so nice. But it was nerve-wracking. I was like, “Please don’t make me cry right now. I just have to go on and shoot this very important part of the movie.” Anyway, it was a long preparation because they had to set up the camera for that movement, which was quite complicated. I had a lot of time and I was getting more and more nervous. And we did it in two takes! I was like, “No, what?” And the director said, “No, it’s great. I’m happy.” She let herself go literally and spiritually. It was a real surrender.
DEADLINE George RR Martin’s book obviously reveals that your character is not around for long. Did Ryan let you know in the first season that you were not going to survive the second season?
BEST Yeah, we knew that. My contract said I was only going to be there for two seasons. So we knew it was going to be limited. That’s kind of the nature of it, really. If you’re going to be involved in this franchise, there’s a good chance you’re going to have a tragic ending at some point. I didn’t know the exact details of the date, but I knew it was on a dragon.
DEADLINE Did you know about the following episodes? I mean, did you want to know what the consequences would be if you died?
BEST At the time, I didn’t know it. I thought: Well, she’s done. But after reading the episode and knowing that they were all going to read it again, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to know what’s going on.’ And I want to know if Corlys (Rhaenys’ husband, played by Steve Toussaint) is really unhappy? Is he really upset? He better be devastated. He better cry a lot.”
DEADLINE Did your character go to her death knowing she would have made a better leader than Viserys?
BEST Oh yeah. I mean, that’s her whole journey. That’s the backbone of this story… the woman who gets pushed aside in favor of the man, the woman who is eminently more qualified for the role. And in fact, when we started shooting, Sara Hess, Ryan’s co-head writer, immediately said to me, “She’s a lot like Hillary Clinton.” And that feels so right. The person who is clearly the smartest, most knowledgeable, most qualified, most temperamental and intellectually suited for the role is pushed aside because of her gender, and then she sees that potentially happening again with Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). There was a very strong sense of, “Not on my watch, this story will never repeat itself again, we have to change it.”
DEADLINE Can you talk about the significance of Rhaenys’ look?
BEST In the first season she wore a lot of dresses and it was only at the end that she put on her dragon costume. I was told it was very pretty and actually the boots were very comfortable and that’s my comfort zone, wearing pants and simple stuff. It was very tight, though. Sometimes I felt like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. I was very restricted in my movements. But it was pretty. And if she looks like a good ass-kicker, then I’m happy with that.
DEADLINE Are you going to regret how spectacular you looked in your blonde wig?
BEST I mean, I just wish I had someone make this wig for me in my real life.
DEADLINE I was always studying the edges to see if I saw anything that looked like a wig. You just couldn’t tell.
BEST It’s very clever. There are a lot of Aryan wigs in this movie. In Game of Thrones, there was only one. But I’m like you. I’m like, where’s the stitch? Where’s the line? It’s a very long process, putting it on because I have all this hair to hide, and then they put a bald cap on and then they paint the bald cap. They’re brilliant at it. It’s a phenomenal piece of engineering. But it’s also very uncomfortable, let me tell you. I had a hot head full of metal pins, which we’re all trying to remove surreptitiously. Steve is very good at that. The sea serpent ends up with about one pin at the end of the day. My wonderful, very brilliant hairdresser had the eyes of a hawk. She doesn’t let me get away with anything. So if I take one pin out, she puts another one in just in case.
DEADLINE I’m going to miss Rhaenys.
BEST She’s a sexy, cool, badass girl. I’m going to miss her too.