One of House of the Dragon’s funniest character quirks belongs to Ormund Hightower. The Reach lord is frequently seen carrying lavender to cope with unpleasant smells, a detail that has become a fan favorite throughout season 3. As it turns out, James Norton has a sensitivity of his own. During a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the actor admitted that while odors don’t bother him much, certain sounds absolutely do.
Quick read:
- James Norton says smells don’t bother him.
- The actor struggles with noise sensitivity.
- Crunching and chewing sounds drive him crazy.
Ormund’s sensitivity reminded Seth Meyers of James Norton
While discussing House of the Dragon, Seth Meyers brought up Ormund’s habit of constantly reaching for lavender whenever unpleasant smells are nearby.
“There’s a great moment there in that clip where Ormund has an issue with smells, so he’s constantly smelling his little lavender thing. Are you…is that something that you can pull from? Are you yourself very sensitive to smells?”
Norton quickly explained that smells are not his problem.
“Smells, I’m okay with. I have a real thing with noise.”
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The actor then revealed that he believes he suffers from misophonia, a condition in which specific sounds trigger strong emotional reactions.
“Yeah. You’ve got really to the nub of my being. I think it’s called misophonia or something?”
Popcorn, chewing, and even breathing can set him off
Once the topic came up, Norton didn’t hold back.
After Meyers asked whether chewing noises were the culprit, the actor admitted that they’re among his biggest pet peeves.
“I cannot do — yeah. I mean, if I had the choice, I would ban all popcorn from theaters.”
He went on to explain that crunchy foods make him feel intensely agitated.
“I’d just keep it to, like… I don’t know, soft foods. Anything which is crunchy makes me feel really agitated.”
Norton even shared stories about asking people to breathe more quietly during performances and confronting a theatergoer over chewing gum, only to discover the man was using Nicorette while trying to quit smoking.
Reflecting on how these situations affect him, the actor joked:
“Yeah, I become Ormund, I become a demon.”
After hearing that confession, fans may never look at Ormund’s lavender habit quite the same way again
