‘House of the Dragon’: Paddy Considine Said ‘It Drove Me Nuts’ When People Underestimated Viserys
House of the Dragon concluded King Viserys (Paddy Considine)’s story but people are still talking about it. Episode 9 was all about who would be the next King or Queen. Considine is just glad that people have stopped underestimating his character.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.]
Considine was a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Oct. 14. Looking back on his eight episode arc in House of the Dragon Season 1, Considine admitted his frustrations, and satisfaction when fans got it. House of the Dragon Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max.
Paddy Considine knew how complex King Viserys was before ‘House of the Dragons’ fans or critics did
Considine was at a bit of an advantage over the average House of the Dragon viewer. When they watched the initial episodes, Considine already knew where it was going.
“I thought he was a beautifully complex character,” Considine said on Happy Sad Confused. “It used to drive me nuts when people talked about him like you’re weak. I think you’re underestimating me. Viserys was no idiot in my eyes. He certainly wasn’t weak, that’s for sure.”
Paddy Considine watched ‘House of the Dragons’ viewers come around on King Viserys
By Viserys’ final episode, when he pushed his body to sit on the Iron Throne and finally passed away, viewers knew his plan. Considine said he enjoyed watching House of the Dragon fans come around.
It was interesting watching that tide turn from the beginnings of the show. There was a bit of competition. It was all about favoritism. I’m not here for any competition. I’m not here to be your mate or be anybody’s favorite. I’m here to play Viserys Targaryen. A friend messaged me today actually and they said watching it, now seeing the end of it, it’s almost like at the beginning you knew who he was from the beginning. I’m like yeah, I did. I think that’s the difference. I knew who he was from the start. I just had a sense of him from the very, very beginning.
Paddy Considine, Happy Sad Confused podcast, 10/14/22
1 and done is just fine
The only downside of King Viserys’ arc is that it ends in season 1. Considine did express how he’d prefer doing interviews for House of the Dragon Season 2 so that reporters would understand his character. However, he was happy to make an impression in the first season.
“To be able to have one season but to be able to go in and make an impact like that, what more would I want really?” Considine said. “I could turn up year after year and dip in and dip out and you won’t see me for four episodes. No, I came in, I did it and I died and I’m gone and that’s it.”
Considine said he’d turned down similar swordplay costume dramas before because they didn’t offer the opportunity House of the Dragon did.
“I didn’t want to be standing there in armor for God knows how many months and years of my life,” Considine said. “And I’ve been offered jobs on epic things in the past and they all sounded very exciting. When you got the script and looked at it, you were literally standing in the background with a spear while all these other actors got to play. I’m like no, I’m not doing that. This was different. When I read it, it didn’t bother me that it was one season because he had a story. He had a beginning, middle and end.”
