Home of the Dragon’s Matthew Needham on Enjoying the Present’s Grasp of Manipulation

Should you watched season one in all House of the Dragon, you’ve gotten an thought of what Lord Larys Sturdy (Matthew Needham) is able to. As an example, he arranged to have his own father and brother murdered to curry favor with Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke), and confirmed not one lick of regret. In season two, Lord Larys has an elevated place of energy inside King Aegon II’s regime, however he’s additionally gotten even higher at manipulating issues from the shadows.

“It’s all actually about energy and management,” Needham defined to a gaggle of journalists, together with io9, at a latest Home of the Dragon press day. “Particularly with Alicent, I feel it’s all about making the queen work for him … I don’t assume he’s just a few rabid lunatic. It’s all about management. Undoubtedly. However then once more, that’s the present, proper? I imply, every part about Home of the Dragon and Recreation of Thrones is about energy. The whole lot may be seen via the prism of how individuals search energy and the way we attempt to exert it over different individuals.”

Whereas Lord Larys has gotten superb at taking part in the lengthy recreation—taking his time to nudge the items he envisions into place—Home of the Dragon season two’s fast march towards battle means it’s more durable for him to plan forward. “He’s caught off guard so much this season, and his plans don’t work out,” Needham teased. “You see him having to pivot and adapt, improvise within the second to outlive and to attempt to get forward. In moments like that, you actually get to see what he’s product of—what he’s able to and kind of how his mind works. That was very thrilling to to play as a result of the board is consistently transferring, because it does in battle time. He’s having to work so much more durable.”

Needham, who thinks Lord Larys has no boundaries at this level (“He’s a reasonably wild man!”), additionally has to take physicality into consideration as a part of his efficiency. Lord Larys walks with a cane as a result of he has a misshapen foot, and he’s grow to be adept at utilizing that to make different individuals underestimate him. In actual fact, he leans into it, Needham defined. “I simply attempt to make myself as small as doable,” the actor mentioned. “I keep in mind studying [about clinical] psychologists, in the event that they actually need [someone] to open up and never really feel threatened, it’s good to kind of be under their eye line. So it was at all times a acutely aware factor, to simply attempt to be under the individual I’m speaking to, his eye line. In order that was a part of it: attempt to be as small as as doable, which is enjoyable to do.”

Home of the Dragon season two returns to HBO and Max June 16.

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