This interview contains spoilers for the first two episodes of House of the Dragons.
Legendary explorer, naval commander, and lord of a noble family that has long made its living at sea, Corys Bellaryon, aka Seesnake, is a sailor at heart. Not so with Steve Toussaint, the British actor who played him in “House of the Dragon.”
“That’s strange,” he said with a laugh. “The last few times I was on a boat, I suddenly started getting seasick.
Whatever Toussaint’s shortcomings as a sailor, Lord Corliss’ prowess at sea is so formidable that even the dragon-riding scions of the ruling monarchy, House Targaryen, must pay homage to him. In his second episode of the show, he angrily declines the Small Council headed by King Viserys (Paddy Considain).
Corlys’ inworld untouchability provides a useful counterpoint to the racist reactions Toussaint has faced in several areas. The actor, who is black, portrays a direct descendant of the fallen Valyrian empire. This person is assumed to be white in the source material for George RR Martin’s book Fire & Blood. The power and prowess of the Corlys are showcased without warning in the world of the show Martin has created with his Ryan Condal.
“I think some people live in different worlds,” Toussaint said of the controversy. , I have black friends, that’s my world, and I want to be in a program that reflects that world.
In a phone conversation last week, Toussaint spoke from London about the power that drives Cory and knowing the rules to follow and the rules to break.
Corlys has that cool factor that even the most charismatic characters lack. He seems happy with his skin in a way that many others aren’t.
That’s one of my favorite things about Corey. Of all the people he’s been around, as he says later in the episode, he’s the guy who went out and made his fortune with his own hands. It’s one of the keys to who he is.
Funny enough, when we first met co-showrunners Ryan and Miguel, all we talked about was his feelings for paternity and his family. Has a desire to be firm. He feels contempt for his wife [Princess Rhaenys, played by Eve Best]the fact that she was overlooked [for the Iron Throne]than her.
And when he realizes he can’t restore her to the throne, his next thing is to bring the family as close to power as possible. That is, get the children married in some way.
Return to Westeros in “House of the Dragon”
HBO’s long-awaited ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel is here.
How do you think Cory’s will go through with the ceremony of having a 12-year-old daughter, Laena? [Nova Fouellis-Mosé], court to the king? Has he given the whole system a second thought?
Corlys’ hallmark is sticking to the rules.Although he felt that his wife was more capable of taking the throne than Viserys, it was [the Great Council] I chose.Although he thinks they made a mistake, “Here are the rules given to me. This is how the power dynamics decided to work in that world. Okay, in that case, I will do it this”
Otto Hightower in episode 1 [Rhys Ifans] Even though he wants his wife to take the throne, he says, “No, no, we have an heir. It’s a demon.” [the king’s younger brother, played by Matt Smith]Now, that may not be to everyone’s taste, but that’s the rule. when there is a dispute about [the king’s daughter] Regarding Rhaenyra’s position, he also said:
I think he said, that is rule. How can we succeed in them? ”
That’s not the only way Corliss has amassed a family fortune. He made his fortune by making nine legendary voyages to faraway lands, at great risk to himself. Is that in the back of your mind when you play him?
yes. I remember saying to Ryan at one point, ‘I wish there was some kind of article so they would remember it. Ryan is a super geek, so he was good enough to come back with an entire set of papers. [Laughs.] That’s a big part of Corliss’ very existence, what he did.
It’s interesting that you said he was in great danger. I don’t know if he thought so at the time. I was just adventurous. He wanted to get out there and see beyond the world as it was then known.sure when Me I was in my teens and early twenties and had no fear. I wanted to live forever.
Clearly the part of him sitting around these people who are older men and who like to talk about the war so nonchalantly is like, ‘No, I saw that, but you I haven’t seen it, if you had seen it you wouldn’t be talking like this.
When it comes to fighting, you either succeed or you fail — there are no gray areas. he likes it In general, if life is like that, he wants it. That’s one of the reasons he’s not always perfectly comfortable doing diplomacy and such on the Small Council. “If something is right, it’s right. Let’s do it.”
Did that make the Small Council scene difficult to play?
Character-wise, it helps me a lot with the resentment that Corlys holds toward what he sees as these privileged people. In fact, there were some points where Ryan had to hold me back. you’ve gone too far ‘ It’s going to be harder for people like Paddy and Gavin Spokes – and I didn’t have this discussion with them, so I don’t know – [who plays the Small Council member Lord Lyonel Strong]the character should be careful not to upset people and try to keep a balance.
He has a side that goes beyond the rules as far as he is concerned. He also controls most of the navy, so he knows how valuable he is to the kingdom. So he knows he can afford a little more.
You talked about the racist backlash you initially faced from several segments of the fandom when you were cast.
It still has a trickle in it, but overall it’s great. The overwhelming majority of people have been very welcoming and supportive.
Some people go out of their way to find my timeline and explain things like, “Books are everything.” Here’s my take: There are programs on TV that I don’t like. There are actors that I find uninteresting—I don’t like them, so I don’t feel the need to air them at all. Some people think not. It’s all natural. My objection is to those who have racially abused me.
For some reason, the response I’m getting lately seems to overlook that, as if to say, “You’re racist because you don’t like me.” Not what I’m saying. I don’t understand people’s motives.but i conduct I know the motives of someone who calls me the n-word.have a good idea that meaning.
Were you a ‘Game of Thrones’ fan before you got this role?
Yes it was. Fantasy is not my genre so it took me about 3-4 seasons before I actually saw it. I was staying at a friend’s house in LA and he said, “Have you seen this Game of Thrones?” And I was like: There’s a dragon, why am I looking at it? ” [Laughs.] He said, “Just watch one episode.” And it was a lot more gritty than I expected, wish I had a better word, but realistic.