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Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke: Who’s who in the House of the Dragon cast?

Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke: Who's who in the House of the Dragon cast?

Audiences are about to plunge into the world of House of the Dragon, and just like its predecessor Game of Thrones, its ensemble cast is made up of well-known stars and “where have I seen them before?” faces.

Here are the main thesps and the roles that brought them to this moment in their professional lives.

matt smith

Character: Prince Daemon Targaryen

English actor Matt Smith is probably most famous face of House of the Dragons‘ ensemble cast, having played British cultural icons Doctor Who and Prince Philip.

Before nabbing the role of the Eleventh Doctor, Smith’s most prominent role had been in 2007 miniseries Party Animals, portraying a political staffer. As David Tennant’s time traveler replacement, Smith was catapulted into the stratosphere when he became the youngest actor to take on the Doctor. He was in the role for three series and five specials.

He followed that up by stepping into Prince Philip’s very expensive, custom-made shoes for two seasons of The Crown, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. Smith was praised for capturing the Duke of Edinburgh’s hautiness as well as the royal’s vulnerability to her as the Queen’s mostly powerless consort.

But his time on The Crown was embroiled in controversy when it was revealed Smith had been paid more than his co-star Claire Foy, despite Foy having the larger, more demanding and title role. Foy’s salary was later upped to match his.

Smith parlayed his TV celebrity into movie roles in Terminator Genisys, Charlie Says (where he played Charles Manson), His House and as villainous creeps in Edgar Wright’s stylish thriller Last Night in Soho and comic book vampire flick Morbius. Most recently, he took on the role of a wealthy party host in The Forgivenwhich also starred Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes.

Olivia Cooke

Character: Lady Alicent Hightower

Treading the boards since she was eight years old, Olivia Cooke got her start through a local theater workshop in her hometown of Oldham.

Her first big break came when she landed the role of Emma Decody in Bates Matela prequel series to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Her character de ella had started the show as Norman Bates’ love interest and managed to survive the whole five seasons.

Cooke followed that up as William Thackeray’s scheming social climber Becky Sharp in the 2018 TV adaptation of Vanity Fair – great experience for her role as the manipulative Alicent in House of the Dragon.

On the silver screen, Cooke has been in a raft of studio and indie movies including Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Thoroughbreads, Sound of Metal, pixie and as one of the leads in Steven Spielberg’s big budget sci-fi epic Ready Player One.

HOTD isn’t Cooke’s only prominent TV role this year – she was also one of the leads in Apple TV+’s spy show Slow Horsesopposite Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas. Slow Horses has already been renewed for four seasons.

Paddy Considine

Character: King Viserys I Targaryen

A constant presence in film and on TV, English star Paddy Considine has had memorable roles over the years, including as the doomed journalist weaving his way through Waterloo Station in the Bourne Ultimate – it was one of the most suspenseful sequences to feature in a spy thriller, so that’s saying a lot.

His most high-profile film projects have included Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth, The Death of Stalin, Miss You Already, Cinderella Man and two of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End.

On the smaller screen, Considine had starred in a series of TV movies called The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and had been making a splash in recent years as a recurring character on Peaky BlindersStephen King adaptation The Outsider and Jude Law series The Third Day.

He’s also a filmmaker, having written and directed Tyrannosaurusa feature he adapted from his own short film, and which starred Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan and Peter Mullan.

Stream House of the Dragon from August 22 on BINGE. New customers get a 14-day free trial. Sign up at binge.com.au

Emma D’Arcy

Character: Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen

Emma D’Arcy is a relative newcomer on the scene, compared to some of their more experienced scene partners, but that doesn’t mean they can’t hold their presence on screen.

They have been in several theater productions at smaller venues, including The Crucible, romeo and juliet and Pillowman While their TV roles have included the divisive Netflix miniseries Wanderlust, the promptly canceled Rob Lowe drama Wild Bill and Hanna. They were one of the leads in Nick Frost and Simon Pegg’s supernatural comedy Truth Seekers.

On film, D’Arcy has been in misbehaviora Keira Knightley dramedy about the feminist protest at the 1970 Miss World Competition, and mothering sundaya romantic drama which starred Odessa Young, Olivia Colman and Colin Firth.

House of the Dragon will be their most prominent role yet.

Milly Alcock

Character: Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen

House of the Dragon will be the young Australian actor’s first international role, and what a platform on which to step up for your global debut.

Alcock, all of 22 years old, has been in many local productions, starting with guest and recurring roles in TV shows such as Wonderland, Janet King and A Place to Call Home. She was also in Foxtel show fighting season, Les Norton, Reckoning, The Gloaming and ABC series pine gapthe latter of which was a Netflix co-financed production.

But her most prominent role so far has been the scene-stealing co-lead in right, the drama developed, co-written by and starring Tim Minchin. Alcock has also wrapped filming on a second season of the series.

Steve Toussaint

Character: Lord Corlys Velaryon

Steve Toussaint has been a prolific actor in his near three-decade career on screen.

From one of his earliest roles as a nondescript squadron leader in the critically reviled Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd to playing John Boyega’s dad in Alexander McQueen’s Small AxToussaint leaves his mark.

He’s been in a raft of British TV shows such as Holby City, Bill, doctors, My Dad’s the Prime Minister, The Knock, It’s a Sin, death in paradise and Silent Witness – and like most British actors who have been around on TV long enough, he’s played a cop a bunch of times.

Eve Best

Character: Princess Rhaenys Velaryon

The RADA-trained actor is most recognized for her role on Nurse Jackie as Edie Falco’s onscreen best friend, a role she played for five seasons.

Also on TV, Best has been in Prime Suspect: The Final Act, Vital Signs, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, The American Experience and in all eight episodes of the Maggie Gyllenhaal-led political thriller The Honorable Woman.

If you were lucky enough to have seen Best in theatre, you may have witnessed her on stage in a bunch of Royal National Theater and Shakespeare’s Globe productions including Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, The Coast of Utopia and Much Ado About Nothing.

Her best known film role was as American divorcee Wallis Simpson in Oscar winner The King’s Speech.

Sonoya Mizuno

Character: Mysaria

Former ballet dancer and model Sonoya Mizuno got her first big break in Alex Garland’s Former Machineas an AI android who was abused by her creator, played by Oscar Isaac.

Mizuno’s partnership with Garland continued in the filmmaker’s next work, Annihilation, but you may not have seen her face – she was the mirror dancing alien in that bonkers scene at the end with Natalie Portman. In Garland’s next project, the cerebral and philosophical miniseries devshe cast Mizuno as the lead, a computer engineer who is pulled into a plot after the disappearance of his partner.

She is also known for her appearance in Crazy Rich Asiansas the bride Araminta Lee, and shared a screen with Emma Stone in two projects, La La Land and Netflix series manic.

Rhys Ifans

Character: Ser Otto Hightower

What hasn’t Rhys Ifans done? The Welsh actor and musician gives Matt Smith a run for his money from him as the most recognizable star in House of the Dragon.

Ifans stole every scene he was in as Hugh Grant’s kooky and exhibitionist housemate in Notting Hill, among his many film credits which includes LittleNicky, The Replacements, The Shipping News, Vanity Fair, Enduring Love, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Boat That Rocked, The Five-Year Engagement and Official Secrets.

Younger fans might know him as the conspiracy loving Xenophilius Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies while he’s also played the slithering and clobbering villain Dr Curt Connors/Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Manthe latter was a role he recently reprised via voice performance in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

On TV, Ifans had a recurring role as Mycroft Holmes in Elementary and he was one of the leads in berlin station.

He also had a memorable starring role in the film clip to Oasis song, “The Importance of Being Idle”.

Fabien Frankel

Character: Ser Criston Cole

Fabien Frankel has only been in the business for a few years but he made an impression in Netflix true crime series The Serpentin which he played Dominique Renelleau, a real-life French backpacker who managed to escape death at the hands of serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

He has also had parts in the NYPD Blue TV movie reboot, an episode of An Uncandid Portraitthe Emilia Clarke rom-com Last Christmas and is one of the leads in the upcoming farce comedy Venice at Dawn.

House of the Dragon will premiere on Monday 22 August at the same time as the US, streaming on Binge. The series will also be available to watch on Foxtel in 4K Ultra HD

Read related topics:BingeFoxtel

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Thirteen Lives: Ron Howard and Joel Edgerton on their Thai Cave Rescue movie

Thirteen Lives: Ron Howard and Joel Edgerton on their Thai Cave Rescue movie

You only have to utter the words “Thai Cave Rescue” and almost anyone would know exactly what you’re talking about.

The extraordinary story of the international effort to save 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave system is remembered not just for the complicated rescue but for its triumphant ending.

“I remember when it first happened,” Joel Edgerton told news.com.au.

“Look, I’m a bit cynical. Whenever there’s a news event, particularly one that’s either super tragic or one that is incredibly positive – and this one was both, it started tragic and ended positively – I would sit with friends and say, ‘There will be a movie about that any minute now’.

“I’m sure producers were swooping into north Thailand at the time, trying to buy up the story. I never imagined I’d be part of it.”

The “it” is Thirteen Livesa dramatization of the Thai Cave Rescue by director Ron Howard and screenwriter William Nicholson.

Edgerton portrays Adelaide diver and anaesthetist Richard Harris alongside Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell who took on the roles of British divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen.

It was inevitable that the story would be catnip to moviemakers, but when it’s a tale that was already so well-documented at the time, what could Hollywood add to it?

Perennial filmmaker Howard knew he had a task on his hands, but he also knew that the story was worth dramatizing because narrative film offers audiences a specific emotional connection.

“The role of a dramatized version of events is to be visceral and emotional and reach into people’s nervous systems with the truth of the story and the spirit of the story,” Howard told news.com.au.

“When audiences connect with the characters, which has to do to some extent with the writing but a lot to do with the actors, and this is a great ensemble cast, you begin to understand how difficult some of the choices (during the rescue operation ) were.

“When you present characters as very relatable, modern people, any of us could understand the logic of what it was and what they were thinking or going through. Then you begin to develop empathy.

“That’s something a scripted, dramatized version offers audiences, a kind of empathy bridge. That creates suspense because you might know what the overall outcome was, but you don’t know what the cost was for these individuals.

“You don’t know what the baggage was, the physical, personal or emotional injury was – so those are stakes as well.”

Edgerton said that even though he had kept up with the Thai Cave Rescue’s news cycle, he didn’t know how agonizing a decision it was for Dr Harris to agree to sedate the kids so they could be ferried out through the dangerous cave system which challenged even the most experienced of specialist divers.

Thirteen Lives really helps to humanize the people involved, Edgerton contended.

“(The sedation plan) was a very controversial decision. I’ve read Richard’s book and I’ve since had conversations with him – he wasn’t around when we were shooting – but I watched numerous interviews and it really underlined for me the steps it took for him to agree to do something that he thought was such a highwire act in terms of whether it would work,” Edgerton said.

“Helping them may result in the death of the boys but if you didn’t try something or didn’t agree to help try that thing, all the boys would have likely died anyway. The weight of that decision, I found, was extraordinarily emotional. He’s an unbelievably thoughtful and wonderful man.”

Howard said the real-life counterparts, including Stanton and Volanthen, whose life rights form the basis of Thirteen Livestrusted him to tell their story, citing his treatment of true events movies Apollo 13, Rush and A Beautiful Mind.

“They could see from the beginning that my own antenna was tuned towards integrity,” the filmmaker explained. “I didn’t want to amp things up. I didn’t need to.”

The resulting film is an expansive, thoughtful and measured rendering, one which may have centered the story of the British and Australian divers, but makes a conscious effort to pay tribute to the vast network of people involved in the rescue effort.

Such as that of Thai-American water engineer Thanet Natisri, who took it upon himself to co-ordinate a group of local volunteers to stop water pouring from Doi Nang Non mountain into the cave system.

At one point during the operation, the volunteers ran out of the pipe they were using to divert the water to the rice fields below.

Howard revealed: “I was talking to the real Thanet and I said, ‘How did you solve it?’ and he said, ‘One of the local villagers, one of the elders just said he could help and they split bamboo and made them into troughs that they lashed to the pipes’. And he showed me photos of it.”

Howard thought the ingenuity was brilliant and he included that detail in Thirteen Lives.

There was always the risk that a Thai story centered on three white divers could veer into white savior territory. Howard, having now also made several documentaries, understood the story is only complete when you contextualize those characters’ place in the bigger picture.

“I was aware of (the white savior complex) and particularly when I began to understand that, yes, the foreigners, these Brits and an Australian, came in and accomplished this thing. That was vital and, without a doubt, heroic.

“But none of it would have happened with this amazing support system and that was not without risks – physical, emotional, political, career-wise – and I thought that was all fascinating.

“I was really interested in letting people understand what made it all possible. Because it goes deeper than just some really dynamic, talented people with a specific skill coming in and rescuing the kids.”

Edgerton, one of Australia’s great acting and filmmaking exports, gave Howard credit for spinning so many plates.

“There are no Hollywood histrionics or over-sentimentality about what went down. He kept so many characters’ stories alive and paying tribute to the community at large, about the global community of care that went in and the volunteerism – the village that is willing to flood their fields, the people pitching in to divert the water, people feeding everybody that was there to help.”

Thirteen Lives is but one piece of the Thai Cave Rescue tapestry. It follows The Cavea 2019 indie movie from director Tom Waller, and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s widely-acclaimed documentary The Rescue.

Then there’s a Netflix miniseries, which has the life rights to the football team, that will premiere later this year.

Edgerton sees Thirteen Lives and The Rescue as complementary – “the more the merrier!”

“Perpetuate great stories, you want to tell them, you want to pass them along,” Edgerton said.

“It’s a story that reminds us, particularly at the time we’ve been going through, of what human beings are capable of when we get together. Our core value is that we care and that we want to help and that we’re human.

“We see so many signs of the opposite every night when we watch the news or when we click on a story. It’s a great time to tell a story about when human beings do the right thing with each other, when the impossible becomes possible.”

Thirteen Lives is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video

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