While there appear to be plenty of differences between Game of Thrones and its upcoming prequel series, House of the Dragon, star Matt Smith says one thing that hasn’t changed is the show’s high number of sex scenes.
In an interview with Rolling Stone (via THR), Smith said the amount of sex scenes his character is involved in is “slightly too much, if you ask me.”
“You do find yourself asking, ‘Do we need another sex scene?’” Smith said. “And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we do.’ I guess you have to ask yourself: ‘What are you doing? Are you representing the books, or are you diluting the books to represent the time [we’re living in]?’ And I actually think it’s your job to represent the books truthfully and honestly, as they were written.”
HBO’s original Game of Thrones series also garnered some criticism for its levels of nudity. Actress Gemma Whelan, who played Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, called the show’s sex scenes “a frenzied mess.” And, Emilia Clarke has said that she won’t do nudity again after Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, a story originally published in 2018. Smith will appear as Prince Daemon Targaryen, one of the main players in the conflict known as the Dance of Dragons. The story is a prequel to Game of Thrones, taking hundreds of years earlier.
In addition to a lot of sex scenes, House of the Dragon will also have a lot of, well, dragons. Nine different dragons will appear in Season One, and co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik said each dragon will have “its own personality.”
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21. We also know the first season will have multiple time skips and that its redesigned Iron Throne includes 2,500 swords.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.