Paddy Considine, who plays Targaryen patriarch King Viserys in House of the Dragon, received the highest possible praise – Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin said Considine's version of the character was better than the one he wrote in the books. Warning: there are spoilers for House of the Dragon episode 8 ahead.
"I got a text message that simply said, 'Your Viserys is better than my Viserys,'" Considine told GQ. "It was from George R.R. Martin. And I thought: that’ll do it. Thanks for trusting me."
Viserys unwittingly puts an end to a time of peace in Westeros by naming his first-born child, his daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy), as his heir, despite the belief of his wife Alicent (Olivia Cooke) that their son Aegon has a better claim as a man. At the end of episode 8, Viserys dies, mumbling some last, muddled words to Alicent. He mistakes her for Rhaenyra, and so the matter of his succession is now thrown further into question.
"He was the only person in this kingdom who had any fucking morals whatsoever," Considine added. "He holds everything together as long as he absolutely can. I thought he was a joy to play. He believed in duty above everything. I don’t know if people fully understood that correctly. There’s this perception that he’s weak, which I think is absolutely nonsense. He’s just too compassionate for the job. I think the sense of duty is what got to him."
House of the Dragon airs on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max, before following on Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV. Make sure you never miss an episode with our handy House of the Dragon release schedule and keep up to date with our guides to the House of the Dragon timeline and the Targaryen family tree.
