Spoilers for House of the Dragon episode six, “The Princess and the Queen,†below.
In a show full of schemers, he may be the biggest yet — but Matthew Needham, the actor who plays Larys Strong on House of the Dragon, is playing his tactics close to the vest.
“What does he have up his sleeve?†Needham says. “He’s … got sleeves. Sorry, I’d love to say — I’m just scared that HBO will murder me in my sleep or something.â€
There’s a lot of that going around, thanks in large part to Larys himself. Nicknamed “the Clubfoot†due to his limp, Larys is — or was — part of one of Westeros’s most influential families: His father, Lord Lyonel Strong, was Hand of the King, and a genuinely good one at that; his brother, Ser Harwin Strong, was Lord Commander of the City Watch of King’s Landing … and, as nearly everyone could tell, the biological father of Princess Rhaenyra Targayren’s three children.
But then there’s Queen Alicent Hightower. She wants her father, Ser Otto Hightower, restored to his old position as Hand and for her children rather than Rhaenyra’s to inherit the Iron Throne. For the former, well, her wish was Larys’s command: In the single most shocking act in an already momentous episode (which already features a ten-year time jump and several major cast changeovers), Alicent’s advisor, Larys, orchestrated the fiery deaths of both Lyonel and Harwin, clearing the decks for Alicent’s ambition … while taking the family fortune for himself.
Calling from a quiet room in London’s National Theater Studios, where he’s workshopping a new piece, the British actor notes that Larys is one of the most mysterious characters in author George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, Dragon’s source material. It’s a mystery Needham prefers to preserve: “I don’t think you’ve seen his true form yet.â€
There are a lot of complicating factors, but it sure does feel like Larys is the show’s first bonafide villain.
I mean, looking at the world, everyone’s got very villainous qualities. I’m playing him like a hero, but I think that’s maybe just what I have to do to motivate it. But I don’t see him as a villain, really. I’m not playing that. He’s got, in my head anyway, quite a noble ambition, but it’s probably a sick one from an outsider’s point of view.
Looking at the murder of his father and brother, these are people Queen Alicent wanted out of the way, and Larys simply acted on that wish. It’s a bit like Henry II saying, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?â€
Yes. He gives her the thing she wants in a way she never expected. He makes himself indispensable to her, really; he ties them together in blood in this extraordinary act of will. To do away with his family like that in order to give her what she wants — to bring her father back, to strengthen that part of the game …
It surprised her that he took her expressed wishes and actually acted on them.
Remember, this is ten years after they first met, when he first ingratiates himself into her circle in episodes three and five. Ten years have passed! He sees her as somebody like him: an outsider among the natives. He can tell they have a similar worldview, a similar mind-set he can fixate on.
And he’s really useful to her. He’s a man who listens, who watches. He doesn’t have this power like the men on Rhaenyra’s side do. He’s not like Harwin, he’s not this big strong guy. He’s ignored, which is a really dangerous thing to do [to someone] in this world. For ten years, he’s bided his time, waiting for an opportunity. He’s got the patience of a river eroding stone. He’ll wait. I don’t think he’s a chaotic sort of person; I don’t think he’s messy. It’s very, very deliberate. He might seem completely mad, but it’s very methodical.
He seems so polite and gentle, but underneath it, you can sense something just doesn’t sit right.
A lot of that is working with Miguel Sapochnik. If you come in twiddling your mustache, you’re overplaying your evil character, and it makes everyone around you look quite stupid. You’re like, “Well, obviously he’s evil, right?†But he’s playing to win. Just be honest and clear and gentle and then people will trust you and not think twice.
In terms of Larys’s position in society, he’s got two strikes against him from birth. First, he’s the second son, so he’s at a loss there. Then there’s his disability, from which his nickname “the Clubfoot†is derived. Obviously you don’t want to raise the implication that because he has a physical disability, there’s something morally wrong with him — but at the same time, that’s how some of the characters in this world see it. How do you approach that?
It’s his superpower. It’s worked really well in his favor. The fact that he has a clubfoot and people don’t deem him as a threat, or don’t think he can fend for himself … I mean, Harwin is very protective of him. He’s able to use it to his advantage. He’s not an evil disabled person or anything like that. He’s used the prejudice of the world against itself.
It’s reminiscent of how Tyrion knew his dwarfism would lead people to underestimate him in the original Game of Thrones.
That’s George R.R. Martin’s obsession, right? “Cripples, bastards, and broken things.†That’s who he loves: People who have a disadvantage in this very macho world. It’s the people who use their mind — and the more feminine aspects of their personality, I think — to decimate the world. It’s extraordinary.
You mentioned how Larys’s brother Harwin looked out for him — yet Larys still kills Harwin and their father Lyonel. How does a person do that?
It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? This sounds really weird, but I think his views on nature are important. You can either see nature as harmony and things living in perfect balance with each other, or you can see elements of nature as being a succession of tiny murders. For something to grow, something has to die — that sort of thing.
Larys talks about how love is a downfall. It’s not that he’s without love; he’s just able to overcome it. He’s playing life on life’s terms. He’s able to play the game, and the game isn’t won by sitting around the campfire, singing “Kumbaya.†I don’t think he’s without feelings, but you have to be able to turn off your heart. That sounds very strange, but he’s a strange person.