The name Benjamin Evan Ainsworth might not mean much to you now, but the young actor is set to become one of the biggest stars in the world.
At just 17 years old, he’s already starred in the terrifying Netflix series, The Haunting of Bly Manor and lent his voice to Pinocchio in the recent live-action remake of the classic film.
Undoubtedly, though, his breakout role has been playing Daeron Targaryen in season three of House of the Dragon, the youngest son of Viserys Targaryen and a pawn in the Hightower plot to usurp the Iron Throne.
Benjamin’s performance has been mesmeric, and his onscreen partnership with James Norton’s Ormund Hightower has been an impressive part of an already impressive season of television.
And yet Benjamin might be about to become one of the most famous people on the planet as he’s set to play ‘best video game character of all time’.
Who? Well, have you ever heard of a character called Link?
Yes, the young thespian will be playing the sword-wielding hero in the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie, and Metro caught up with him to get the latest on the upcoming fantasy flick.
‘It’s really exciting,’ he said humbly.’It’s such an honour to play such an iconic character and be part of two amazing worlds, which I am in awe of, really.’
‘I can’t speak too much on the film, but I think it’s super exciting. I think it was a similar first reaction to House of the Dragon. It’s all very exciting, but it’s also almost daunting. Filming was a lovely experience, and everyone was just lovely.’
Speaking of House of the Dragon, Benjamin still remembers how he felt when he learned he’d be wearing Daeron’s princely crown.
‘I remember it feeling surreal and exciting, and it was a little bit scary as well when you’re looking at the prospect of a huge show that I’ve admired for so long,’ he admitted.
‘I was so fortunate to go through the audition process, let alone get the role, just because I got to meet Ryan; I got to do a read with Freddie Fox and Fabian Frankel. Just to act with them, even as an exercise in the auditioning process, was wonderful.’
Benjamin explained that even during the table read for House of the Dragon season three, he was blown away by how warm and welcoming everyone on set was.
Still, of all the people he’s been working with, few have left an impression like James Norton. ‘
I think you’ll be glad to know he’s not as horrible in person as Ormund,’ he laughed.
‘He’s lovely; he’s a tremendous actor and an awesome performer to work with – you can really just follow him through a scene.’
‘As a person, though, he’s just fun; he doesn’t take himself too seriously. We’ll be doing quite serious scenes, but between takes, we’ll be having a laugh.
‘I remember him, Freddie and I, in episode six… between scenes, we were just singing songs. James and Freddie are both great people, despite playing kind of very twisted characters.’
Indeed, Daeron’s and Ormund’s ‘twisted’ relationship is one of the things Benjamin has really enjoyed getting his teeth into this series.
‘Ormund is a father figure, and he has been for most of Daeron’s life, and so, it’s clearly had an influence over Daeron and who he is,’ he explained.
”It’s one of those relationships where he can recognise that it’s twisted because he has a relationship with someone like Gwayne.
‘His mother’s so far away; his mother’s a memory, and he does want affection and love, and so trying to find that, balance, I suppose and find like a little bit of a coming of age story was, was really cool.’
So will Daeron come of age on screen? Well, Benjamin wouldn’t be drawn on the role the daring young prince will play in the series’ future, although he did admit to reading some of Fire and Blood (the book House of the Dragon is based on).
‘I was very interested in reading it because [Daeron is] learned, and the character is a good student, so I wanted to learn the Targaryen history and the backstory of Aegon the Conqueror,’ he admitted.
‘But I didn’t want to skip forward or make any presuppositions about who this character becomes because I think it’s important that we see his struggle as he comes of age before the events unfold.
So I stopped myself before it went past the events of this season, which is fun because I’ve got something to look forward to, I guess.’
Does Daeron have a bright future, or will he end up like so many who have played the game of thrones and lost? We’ll just have to wait and see.
House of the Dragon series three is available to watch now on NOW and Sky.
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