Claire Foy has admitted she hated watching Matt Smith’s character in House of the Dragon.
The Crown star, who played Queen Elizabeth opposite the former Doctor Who actor as Prince Philip in the Netflix period drama, admitted she struggled to stay committed to tuning into the Game of Thrones prequel because of hid divisive character Prince Daemon Targaryen.
‘I’ve watched all of [it]. It took a huge amount of commitment, which waned towards the end,’ the 38-year-old actress told Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast.
She added: ‘I was a very committed friend [of Matt] but I disagreed with [his character] in many scenes. I then had to tell him that I found them disgusting to watch.’
Throughout the spin-off series, Daemon was seen engaging in an incestuous relationship with his young niece Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), while an older version of the princess (played by Emma D’Arcy).
Claire isn’t alone in her thoughts about the character, and in a recent interview Emma, 30, dubbed him a ‘deeply problematic character’ who ‘groomed’ his niece.
‘Getting to see Rhaenyra being groomed as a child by her uncle confirms it, and refuses to allow an audience to wholly ignore the problematic nature of their relationship,’ they told The Guardian.
The actor addressed the ‘long history’ in cinema of ‘creating love interests out of problematic – particularly male characters’, given many fans across the globe have become infatuated with Matt’s portrayal of the tumultuous prince.
Meanwhile, Matt previously opened up about his character in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, and insisted amid the cruelty and violence, Daemon also had a love for his family.
He said: ‘I think he’d lie on his sword for his brother or Rhaenyra… He’s got a weird moral compass — perverse and strange, but nevertheless, there is a set of laws that he’s guided by. Where he feels alive is in that lane of chaos and anxiety and madness. He lives on a knife’s edge, all the time.
‘Have you seen [2008 documentary about tightrope walker Philippe Petit] Man on Wire? That’s Daemon. He is constantly in the middle of the rope. He feels alive when he’s in the middle of the rope.’
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MORE : House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy addresses ‘problematic’ incest storyline with Matt Smith
