House of the Dragon, the first major Game of Thrones spin-off, is making its way to our screens. Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood book and set hundreds of years before the time of Daenerys Stormborn, the story will feature the Targaryens at the height of their power. Several actors are attached to the central Targaryen figures, including Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy and Paddy Considine. But Emilia Clarke, the Mother of Dragons herself, has a piece of advice for those actors who would be her fictional ancestors.
You may be imagining that Emilia Clarke's advice to the future of the Game of Thrones franchise would be to, perhaps, keep Starbucks cups out of the shot or to be careful to not spoil crucial details. Alas, no. It concerns the signature Targaryen white hair. In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Clarke was asked if it would be worth it for the House of the Dragon actors to simply bleach their hair instead of wearing wigs. Her response:
No, it is not worth it. I’m speaking from the other side, and it’s not worth it. I literally cut off all my hair because I killed it with a load of bleach. (Laughs.) If you like your hair, keep it your natural color. That goes for everyone. (Laughs.)
Emilia Clarke notoriously bleached her own natural brown hair for the final (and divisive) season of Game of Thrones. The results were rather unfortunate as Clarke tells it. Apparently, it became “so fried” that she was forced to cut it into a Leonardo DiCaprio-inspired, “Romeo + Juliet boy cut.” The new House of the Dragon actors should heed the warning. In the iconic words of Jay-Z, “Hov’ did that, so hopefully you won't have to go through that.”
Though there's been some confusion over the rollout of these Game of Thrones spinoffs, we were recently treated to the first batch of images from the House of the Dragon set. The new players got the signature white hair (hopefully wigs) laid down nicely, and I'm already excited. Emilia Clarke saw those photos, too. She said:
It’s very surreal. I mean, I’ve been prepped for this because Miguel [Sapochnik], who’s the co-showrunner, is a really dear friend of mine. But yeah, it’s crazy! Those pictures came out and I was like, ‘Whoa! Whoa!’ I was on my own last time. I didn’t know I had pals. I could’ve had a bunch of friends to hang out with, but yes, it’s mildly surreal to be seeing all of that again. But good luck to them is what I would say. I really mean that.
As fans will remember, Daenerys Targaryen only had her brother in the first few seasons of Game of Thrones – until the character’s... dramatic exit. There was also that other blood relation of hers... some fans just wouldn’t know it until much later. In contrast, House of the Dragon is crawling with Targaryens, princes and dragon riders alike. Even a glimpse of one of the new dragons was caught in HBO’s recent teaser video. It couldn't really be called House of the Dragon without them, right?
HBO has confirmed that House of the Dragon will premiere in 2022. At least that's something to hold on to, as we seek to replace some of those regrettable scenes from the last season of Game of Thrones that are burned into our collective psyche. Prepare yourself, because the spinoff will supposedly be drastically different than the original series.
