The upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon may not have as many sex scenes as its predecessor – but it won’t ‘shy away’ from storylines focusing on sexual violence.
Next month, fantasy fans around the world will finally be transported back to Westeros to lose themselves in the tale of the Targaryen clan’s rule across the Seven Kingdoms, set 200 years before the original series.
Throughout the eight-season run of Game of Thrones, the sex featured in the plot was a constant source of conversation, with several rape scenes becoming subject to debate and criticism as some viewers felt they were ‘gratuitous’.
Ahead of the premiere of House of the Dragon, which stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans, showrunner Miguel Sapochnik said that the production ‘pulls back’ when it comes to the quantity of sex shown on screen.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he explained that sex will be shown as a casual element of life in House Targaryen, while emphasising that the depiction of sexual assault is done ‘carefully, thoughtfully and [we] don’t shy away from it’.
‘If anything, we’re going to shine a light on that aspect,’ he said. ‘You can’t ignore the violence that was perpetrated on women by men in that time. It shouldn’t be downplayed and it shouldn’t be glorified.’
Miguel, who also worked as a director on Game of Thrones, also spoke about another aspect of House of the Dragon which has been carefully considered – scenes showing women giving birth.
‘In medieval times, giving birth was violence,’ he said. ‘It’s as dangerous as it gets. You have a 50/50 chance of making it.
‘We have a number of births in the show and basically decided to give them different themes and explore them from different perspectives the same way I did for a bunch of battles on Thrones.’
House of the Dragon star Steve Toussaint, who plays Lord Corlys Velaryon, recently opened up about the racist abuse he suffered when he was cast in the role.
‘I didn’t realise [me being cast] was a big deal until I was racially abused on social media,’ he said.
‘Yeah, that s*** happened. I was just like, “Oh wow,” and then I thought “Okay, this means a lot to some people”, but I can’t allow that to bother me.’
He continued: ‘I loved Game of Thrones but my only caveat was, “Where’s everybody else in this world?” I think this show comes closer to [showing] that.’
House of the Dragon premieres on August 21 on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic.
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