In the podcast Still Watching: House of the Dragon, director Loni Peristere discusses the seventh episode of Season Two, titled “An Army of Bastards,” which he directed. Hosts Richard, Chris, and Hillary spoke to him about Alicent’s journey to the Kingswood. Peristere shared insights into how he portrayed Alicent’s emotional state and the symbolism behind her actions.
Director Loni Peristere talks about Alicent going to the Kingswood in episode 7
Photograph by Theo Whiteman/HBO
In the podcast, Peristere explained Alicent’s emotional state and the struggles she is facing. He said:
“She can feel the pressure from all sides. She’s getting pushed out by everyone and there’s nowhere to run. And so when we started looking around for those spaces, we started to think about, okay, where wouldn’t I be seen? Where would I have run as a child, and I would have taken the horse and I would have run as fast as I could into the woods. And then as soon as I ran that far enough away that I didn’t feel like my mom was looking over my back, I would slow down. And it’s a place where I could literally have that alone time to make a decision.”
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Loni Peristere talks about creating Alicent’s Kingswood scene
Photograph by Theo Whiteman/HBO
Peristere went on to talk about his vision for the scene and how it evolved from the original concept. He explained:
“And I really wanted it also to be not the best day. In fact, like I remember when David wrote it, it was like kind of this idealistic day, in this beautiful meadow and she’s very Ophelia-like, like a ghost kind of passing through the light. And I actually kind of wanted it to be the opposite. I wanted it to be like, it would be beautiful, but it’s shitty and it’s raining and it’s cold. And yet that doesn’t matter.”
“And I wanted to create that sense of ambiguity about what she’s doing and where she’s going so that the audience starts to feel nervous in this silent cinema as she sees the lake, which for her could be the end or it could be a baptism. And we don’t know. I wanted everyone to go right back into that classic painting, right back into Hamlet.”
Peristere also discussed the powerful underwater shot of Olivia Cooke. He said:
“And when we have that shot underwater of Olivia’s beautiful red hair kind of moving into the camera, I wanted everyone to say, she’s gone. And then she moves and she opens her eyes. And then there’s this magical thing that happens where you see what she’s seeing and she sees the bird in the sky. And you’re like, she’s free as a bird. She’s as free as a bird. It was so wonderfully done. And you absolutely hit the nail on the head of read the gray area because Richard thought that she was gone and I thought that she was having a baptism. So we really split the difference.”
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