Game Of Thrones Prequel Casts Its Lead, Viserys Targaryen

Even before HBO's blockbuster series Game of Thrones wrapped up in 2019, there was already talk of at least three successor shows moving forward for the series. One of them, the prequel series House of the Dragons, has cast one of its leading men, according to The Hollywood Reporter: Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, 24 Hour Party People) will star as "King Viserys Tagaryen, chosen, by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal."

The character is further described as a "warm, kind and decent man" whose kindness may make him an ineffectual--or at least not great--king. Considine, whose credits also include Peaky Blinders, is so far the sole actor formally announced for the show.

House of the Dragons will get an initial 10-episode run, and was co-created by George RR Martin and Ryan Condal (Colony). Joining them as a writer and executive producer will be Sara Lee Hess (Orange is the New Black, Deadwood). Miguel Sapochnik--a director who worked extensively on the original Game of Thrones series--will help showrun alongside the Condals, and he will also direct the pilot and additional episodes.

The series adapted from Martin's series of novels proved fairly polarizing in its final HBO season, frequently criticized for feeling rushed. There was no shortage of evidence that proved powerful fodder for that theory: Fans noticed a Starbucks coffee cup sitting out on a table in one scene from the high-fantasy series. Such gaffes were back in the news recently, with cast and crew reacting to those mistakes in an upcoming behind-the-scenes book. To quote David Benioff: "How did I not see that?"