“I was just hardly ever seen for it,” the actor, 57, remarks.
He doesn’t remember all the roles he auditioned for, but he does remember one.
“I ended up working with a girl called Jessica Henwick.
Steve Toussaint once auditioned for ‘Game of Thrones’ but prefers his role in ‘House of the Dragon.'.Ollie Upton/HBO; Macall B. Polay/HBO
I did a job with her,” he says, referring to Amazon seriesFortitude.
“Then there’s her mother, who’s [played by]Indira Varma.
And then there’s her uncle.
Steve Toussaint stars as Lord Corlys Velaryon, the famed seafaring explorer known as the Sea Snake, in ‘House of the Dragon.'.Nadav Kander for EW
Her uncle has a bodyguard.
That was one of the roles I auditioned for.”
Toussaint is talking about Areo Hotah, a part that eventually went to actor DeObia Oparei onGame of Thrones.
the Sea Snake, one of the main roles ofGame of Thronesprequel seriesHouse of the Dragon.
“I’m glad I got this rather than that,” he admits.
The descendants of House Velaryon were once described in the books of authorGeorge R.R.
Apart from the Targaryen crown, Corlys is arguably the most powerful person in Westeros.
While the Targaryens rule the skies with their dragons, the Velaryon fleet command the seas.
“No one wants to f— with him,” Toussaint confirms of Corlys.
“It’s much simpler then.
If you don’t do it right, you die.
There’s no gray.
But of course he has this huge ambition.
This idea of legacy, it’s a big deal for him.”
Toussaint began to think of Corlys in a similar light as Lord Tywin Lannister fromGame of Thrones.
“But everything that he did, he thought was the right thing for his children.
‘You’re not going to be a policeman, you’ve got a f—ing degree.
You’re going to lead us.’
But of course, it doesn’t work that way.”
House of the Dragonpremieres on HBO this Aug. 21.
ReadEW’s cover storyfor an exclusive sneak peek.
