House of the Dragon’s Most Controversial Moment Was Inspired By Director's Real Life Experience
And that’s why it was so brilliantly uncomfortable for all of us to watch.
It's safe to say that House of The Dragon is not the most family-friendly show out there. Continuing the legacy of Game of Thrones, the show is filled with violence, gore, swearing, sex and nudity, all mixed into a very disturbing story of the Targaryen Civil War. The show is not meant to be comforting and nice.
However, some episodes are a little harder to watch than others, thanks to the dynamics on the screen.
Targaryen incest is nothing new to viewers familiar with George R.R. Martin's lore from either the original series or the book series. However, the relationship between young Rhaenyra Targaryen, barely an adult, and her uncle Daemon Targaryen was as disturbing to watch as it was compelling.
The chemistry between Milly Alcock, who portrayed the younger version of Rhaenyra, and Matt Smith, who played Daemon, peaked in a brothel scene where the rogue prince took his niece to teach her some life lessons. What makes this intimate moment even harder to fathom is that it was based on a real-life experience for the episode's director, Clare Kilner.
She opened up about the story in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
“So for that sequence, I actually drew on the fact that when I was 23, somebody took me to a club in Berlin through these dark corridors and into this room where people were just like walking toward one another and ripping one another’s clothes off and having sex. I thought that this is how it might feel for young Rhaenyra going into this place.”
Fortunately, Kilner gave no indication that anything remotely criminal happened to her in that Berlin club, so it's safe to say that's where the similarities end.
Clare Kilner will also be directing several episodes of House of The Dragon season 2. Since the show is produced in the U.K., it continues to be filmed in the midst of the strikes, so viewers will soon find out the possible release date.
Stay tuned for important news and behind-the-scenes updates!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter