‘House of the Dragon’s’ Steve Toussaint on Corlys Velaryon Episode 2 Twist

Corlys Velaryon is one of House of the Dragon’s most interesting characters, not least because he “knows how to play people” as Episode 2 revealed, actor Steve Toussaint told Newsweek.

The character, who is also known as The Sea Snake, is a loyal member of King Viserys I’s (Paddy Considine) council, but the show’s second episode saw him make some rather surprising decisions.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for ‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 2.

‘House of the Dragon’s’ Steve Toussaint on Corlys Velaryon Episode 2 Twist

Episode 2 sees Toussaint’s Corlys try to secure his family’s future in several ways, first by attempting to persuade King Viserys I to wed his young daughter Laena (Nova Foueillis-Mosé) and second by taking matters into his own hands when the royal refuses to stop dissent in the Stepstones region, led by a man known as the Crab Feeder.

It is the latter that is the biggest twist of the episode, as Corlys chooses to meet with the king’s estranged brother Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) when the king refuses to help, and he tries to persuade the prince to go to war and prove his worth.

“I think Corlys is a guy who’s very pragmatic, something has to be done,” Toussaint told Newsweek of his character’s motives. “So at beginning of that episode, of course, he comes in and says, ‘Look, I’ve lost ships now. This is ridiculous, but what are we going to do about it?’

“And as far as he is concerned the council, the king, and Otto [Hightower, played by Rhys Ifans] were just dithering about. So I think it’s in his nature to just go ‘well, I could sit around and wait for you and just lose more men or I just go with another man of action and we just do this together.’

“I really enjoyed shooting that scene with Matt, because it tells you so much about both of them in a way and also the fact that Corlys, despite the fact that he has this disdain for politics [and] he’d rather be on the battlefield or on the sea, he does know how to play people.”

“I can’t remember the line now but I think there’s something I say, something like ‘their fortunes were given to them our fortunes have to be made,’ appealing to the vanity of Daemon, knowing that would work,” Toussaint said.

“I think Daemon is also a very interesting character because he’s very dangerous, he just goes his own way,” Toussaint continued. “And what I like about Corlys is that I don’t know that there are many other people in court who would have gone to Daemon with this proposition, so, yeah, I like Corlys for what he did, for his actions there, getting something done basically.”

Why It’s Great Corlys Velaryon is a Family Man First

Toussaint chose not to read George R. R. Martin’s books while preparing for his role as Corlys, preferring instead to focus on the way in which his character develops in the story laid out by showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik.

The fantasy show may be full of dragons and epic battles, but it was the quieter moments that appealed to Toussaint the most, particularly his scene with Smith’s Daemon in the second episode.

It was also the fact that Corlys is a family man, supportive of his wife Princess Rhaenys Targaryen’s (Eve Best) claim to the throne, that he liked best.

“[In] the first in-person meeting I had with Miguel and Ryan […] rather than concentrate on the fact that he was a nautical explorer or he was a warrior, what we talked about for the most part was that he was a father and a family man,” Toussaint said.

“For most of it, he’s trying desperately to get either his wife on the throne because he thinks she should be there because she’s better than the bloke who’s got the role, or the get his family closer to the throne,” he said. “Now, I don’t think he does it in the best way but I think his intentions are about cementing their family’s legacy, and of course, frankly, he’s not completely altruistic but that was the thing I liked about him, was the fact that he tells himself that he’s being selfless, if anything.”

Of Corlys and Rhaenys’ marriage, he said he and Best “spoke to Ryan and Miguel about whether this relationship was one of those marriages of convenience or political merger.”

“[They said] no, this is a love match the two are actually in love with each other, and respect each other, and it’s weird because it’s almost like a modern relationship to an extent,” Toussaint explained.

“As I said, he’s incredibly supportive of her, well to an extent I mean he’s still a bloke, but he cherishes their relationship, he listens to her advice, not always immediately but he is able to go back later and go ‘yeah, you were right.’

“I think that’s what makes the relationship unique in this season, I think the closest maybe was probably Viserys and his first wife, but obviously she dies by the end of Episode one. So I liked the idea of this modern relationship, this partnership between these two people, I really was drawn to that.”

Despite his joy over being cast in the role, there has been some racist comments made over his casting as Corlys.

When asked how the reception has been since the show premiered, Toussaint said: “The vast majority have been very supportive, at least ones who turned up on my timeline anyway have been very supportive, appreciative of the job that I’m trying to do.

“There’s been still some, I had somebody the other day saying that my casting was distracting for people who have read the books. I mean, there’s nothing I can do, I can’t… listen, everyone’s entitled to their opinion, I just wish they wouldn’t be so keen to share their opinions with me personally.

“But this is the life […] we all have our views about what we want to see on the screen and they have their views about theirs. I just don’t have to agree with them.”

On the Show’s Depiction of its Female Characters

House of the Dragon is focused predominantly on succession and the struggles that women have to be seen as competent rulers.

This failed to happen for Corlys’ wife Rhaenys, known as the Queen Who Never Was after being passed over as heir, and it is now a focal point for King Viserys I’s daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) who has to prove she’s worthy of the throne.

The subject certainly isn’t new to the Game of Thrones franchise, as Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) also had her fair share of struggles when it came to showing that, as a woman, she had just as much right to rule as men.

Reflecting on the way in which the show’s female characters are treated, Toussaint said: “I think [the showrunners] are walking a tight rope, a tight line because any show that you do reflects the time that you make it in no matter where you set it or what time you set it in.

“So, we’re making a show that is post-MeToo, but at the same time, it’s still a show set in this world where to all intents and purposes the female is valued lesser than the male. So, trying to navigate those two things I think it’s tricky for them, I think they’ve done a reasonably good job,” Toussaint said. “I think the fact that this whole saga, if we are able to continue it, hinges on the friendship of these two women [Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower], the fact that another woman was passed over but yet still part of this drama, Lady Rhaenys, is good.

“But at the same time, you know, there is still the violence, I mean that scene which even I find hard to watch in Episode one, that cesarean, to put it mildly, [shows] that idea that as a woman you’re just a vessel for heirs.”

The scene Toussaint mentioned features Sian Brooke’s Queen Aemma Arryn, who dies from blood loss after being forced to undergo a cesarean by King Viserys I to deliver their baby son. The child, Baelon, lives for just one day.

“I don’t envy them having to walk that tightrope, it’s interesting, though, when I’ve spoken to the actresses and also people who’ve seen it, ladies who have seen it, they are all uncomfortable with that scene but at the same time go ‘yeah, that’s kind of how it was back then.’ Back then when dragons flew,” Toussaint said.

“Yeah, I’m still figuring it out actually. I mean, ultimately, I’m a man, and I’m very pleased with the season but I’m happy to listen to other voices who might not be.”

“I had really lovely, long conversations with Eve while we were waiting to do stuff, and I remember her saying, because her character says words to the effect of ‘men would sooner put the realm to the torch than have a woman on the Iron Throne,’ and she often said, ‘take away ‘iron’ from that sentence and it’s still where we’re living today’,” he added.

“And you kind of go, ‘yeah.’ I like to think that if you are a part of any kind of minority or a woman, or if you’re Black, or a person of color, or transgender, or nonbinary, I like to think that today is better than yesterday.

“But we still have quite a way to go and there is an awful lot of pushback on progress that we’re trying to make. But we have to keep pushing, we have to because we want to make this a better world for everybody.”

House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.