Actress Eve Best, who is set to star in Game of Thrones spinoff series House of the Dragon, has described the bizarre audition process she went through before landing the role.
Set to debut later this month on Sky Atlantic in the UK, the fantasy drama will act as a prequel to GoT – as its set around 200 years earlier.
However, while the connection between the two HBO series is well documented, Eve Best recently confessed to being rather out of the loop when she first went for an audition to be in House of the Dragon.
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“I was a complete Game of Thrones virgin,” Best, who plays Princess Rhaenys Velaryon in the upcoming series, told The Guardian. “I knew it was a big deal but I was unprepared for the sheer, gobsmacking scale of it".
“Walking on to the set was like walking into New York but instead of towering skyscrapers, it’s Dragonstone. The crew was nearly 4,000 people, which was jaw-dropping. I’ve caught up since," she added.
Details about the show are still being kept to a minimum, with fans only getting a two minute trailer to enjoy before it premiers next weekend (21 August).
As Best adds, who also featured in Oscar-winning film The Kings Speech, even the actors were drip fed information about the series in the audition process.
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“To audition, we were initially sent a scene from the original Game of Thrones with the names changed,” she revealed.
“We weren’t even told the title of the new show."
“When eventually I was sent a real script, I loved the writing. Ryan [Condal] and Miguel [Sapochnik, co-showrunners] hooked me in immediately with the driving theme of the series.
“There is a line my character says early on: ‘Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend to the Iron Throne.’ Lose the word ‘Iron’ from that sentence and it feels all too relevant. To top it all off, they told me my character was a dragon rider. I was in!” Best said.
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Starring alongside her will be former Doctor Who Matt Smith, as well as Olivia Cooke of Ready Player One fame.
The 10-episode series has been well received by critics so far, with The Wrap praising it as 'absolutely a worthy successor [to GoT]'.
Such reviews will come as a big relief to fans, following the eighth and final Game of Thrones season which was roundly panned by TV critics.
HBO has confirmed that House of the Dragon will premiere on 21 August on HBO Max in the US and on 22 August on Sky Atlantic and Now TV in the UK.
Topics: Game of Thrones, TV and Film
Tom Fenton