The actor shares how he developed the beloved character and what he was thinking in those final moments of Sunday's show.
This story contains spoilers for Sunday's episode of House of the Dragon, "The Lord of the Tides."
As House of the Dragon closes its chapter on King Viserys' reign, star Paddy Considine is looking back at the life and death of his beloved character. The 49-year-old English actor will not, however, be actually looking back at his performance on-screen.
In season 1, episode 8, "The Lord of the Tides," Considine's Viserys finally meets his death after a decades-long reign and health struggle with flesh-eating leprosy -- brought on, it seems, by cuts that refused to heal from sitting on the Iron Throne.
In a new interview with The New York Times, Considine is asked whether he has yet watched his final episode.
"No, I haven’t, and I’m not sure if I ever will," the actor responds. "I haven’t seen anything beyond episode 2, really. Some people don’t like to watch themselves, and I’m one of those people. It’s debilitating. I tend to just stay away. I’m sure somebody will show me a photograph."
Viserys' shocking appearance was a main point of Sunday's episode. In his final days, the peaceful king's body was emaciated, his eye missing, and a large chunk of flesh torn from his cheek by his disease. He emerges from a medically-induced, bed-ridden haze to make one final push to protect daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and her children, wearing a Phantom of the Opera-type gilded mask on one side of his face as he ascended the Iron Throne for the last time.
"From the minute of his wife’s funeral, I think Viserys starts to die. It’s a slow death," Considine muses, referencing Queen Aemma's death by c-section in the series premiere. "Nowhere in the story does Viserys ask the maesters to cure him, to stop this thing from eating him alive. I think he accepts it as part of the guilt of the decision he makes to put his wife through a terrible, horrible procedure. It’s like people who surrender to illness. When they offer suggestions to cure him, he doesn’t bother with it. He lets it consume him. He surrenders. That was my thing for him, anyway."
Considine also reveals who he had in mind during his character's final, poignant breaths -- as Viserys reaches a hand up to the sky and mutters "my love" before his death.
"The only suggestion [in the script] is that he doesn’t quite know who he’s talking to. I always had an idea in my head, whether it was useful to the story or not, that the last thing Viserys sees before he dies is the person who comes to collect him from this mortal life. When he dies, he sees Aemma, and he says, 'My love,'" Considine shares.
"I just kind of improvised that line, and reached out a little bit, because this to me is a tragic love story, in many ways. But I kept that private; I never actually disclosed that in the end," he continues. "I just thought, 'If they use it, they use it,' and I hear it’s made the cut, so I’m really grateful, because it ends that story quite beautifully. The narrative I had in my mind was that he never really gets over Aemma, that he’s devastated for the rest of his life."
There are two remaining episodes in House of the Dragon's first season, with the Game of Thrones prequel already renewed for a second by HBO. But fans shouldn't hold their breath for any flashback scenes involving Considine's Viserys.
"I love him so much. I think he’s my favorite character I’ve ever played. But I would struggle with that," the actor admits. "His story has been told. He made his impact. He was the peaceful king that everybody thought was a bore, and he brought some love and compassion to the show. I don’t know what more you could do with that. So I think this is the end."
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.
RELATED CONTENT:
