House of the Dragon's Fabien Frankel has spoken out about his method for preparing for one of the central interactions between Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and his character, Ser Criston Cole.
Ser Criston and Rhaenyra spent the first half of House of the Dragon season 1 growing ever-closer. The Princess personally chose him as one of the Kingsguard, an order of seven sworn to guard the King and Royal Family to the best of their abilities. But the Kingsguard must swear an oath: much like the Night's Watch, they will take no lands and father no heirs, choosing a life of celibacy. In House of the Dragon episode 4, however, Rhaenyra and Ser Criston's flirtations come to a head and the two end up having sex, which ends up causing no end of trouble for everyone.
Appearing on Entertainment Weekly's West of Westeros podcast, Frankel discussed the preparations he went through for the scene, which he thought about for seven months. Frankel said of the scene, “The big thing for me was about it not feeling like another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene, 'cause it's just not like that. Anyone who's ever had sex will tell you sex ain't that beautiful.” This was the ethos he, Alcock, and director Clare Kilner decided to embrace when shooting the scene.
For instance, the scene features the removal of Ser Criston's armor as a focal point. Not only was it symbolic of Ser Criston breaking his vows, it added an extra layer of realistic tension to the scene as Rhaenyra helped him out of the cumbersome outfit. As Frankel says, "I just remember back and forth texts, back and forth phone calls, back and forth meetings between Clare, myself, Milly, and our intimacy coordinator. But particularly me, Clare, and Milly going, 'How do we make this human?'"
House of the Dragon has not shied away from sexual content, but as promised by showrunners, has tried to move away from scenes of ‘gratuitous’ sex and violence. Reaction to this scene has been nuanced, which is perhaps what the show was going for. Discussions on the power imbalances between Ser Criston and Rhaenyra are particularly prominent, with some taking Criston's reluctance as a sign that he did not wish to proceed. Others say that the long, lingering shots show a conscious decision on Criston's part to engage in the tryst.
The scene was a marked departure from other sex scenes in the episode. Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra nearly consummate their illicit affair, but Daemon steps away once he sees that Rhaenyra is initiating much of it. In the post-episode interviews, it is made clear that this is because Daemon does not like Rhaenyra's dominance, though others interpreted it as Daemon having second thoughts about hurting his niece. Alicent (Emily Carey) and Viserys (Paddy Considine) likewise have an uncomfortable encounter, in which Alicent is clearly unhappy and unfulfilled, with the camera lingering on her facial expressions and making a clear distinction between her and Rhaenyra. Alicent is terribly unhappy but fits into the role she has been made to play, whereas Rhaenyra wishes to eschew the expectations set on her, but finds society will punish her for it.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9 PM EST on HBO.
Source: Entertainment Weekly