Paddy Considine addressed House of the Dragon’s controversial birth scene from the series premiere.
Spoilers follow for the House of the Dragon premiere – you have been warned!
In the episode, Considine’s King Viserys orders a caesarean delivery to be performed on his wife Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) while she is conscious, killing them both.
The graphic scene left viewers reeling. In a comment piece for The Independent, Amanda Whiting called the scene “needlessly graphic” and “ancillary to the plot”.
In a roundtable interview attended by Insider, Considine said the scene was even “more brutal” to film in real life.
“Those were hard days filming,” the actor said. “It was tough to shoot. It’s all make-believe, but it was tough.”
He continued: “It was very emotional. In fact, it was a lot more brutal and a lot more emotional than it ends up in the final episode. And I wasn’t sure about that when I first saw it.
“Maybe it was too much because Viserys is utterly devastated, and maybe that was too much to show early on. I think they really cut it down really well.”
In a previous interview, showrunner Miguel Sapochnik said his team asked “as many women as possible” if the birthing scene was too violent and the “unanimous” response was “no”.
Sapochnik, who also directs the series, said they spent a long time making sure they “weren’t glorifying it” and that it felt “horribly real” without being excessive or dwelled upon.
You can click here to read The Independent’s review of the House of the Dragon series premiere.
Or go here for a breakdown of all the Game of Thrones callbacks, references and Easter eggs found in the first episode.
House of the Dragon is available to watch now in the UK on Sky and NOW and in the US on HBO.
