Why House Of The Dragon's Ewan Mitchell Avoided Eye Contact With Matt Smith

There are probably plenty of ups and downs when it comes to working alongside your heroes, but it has to be especially weird to perform with actors you've been watching since childhood. 

For the young stars of HBO's "House of the Dragon," including Ewan Mitchell, who plays Prince Aemond Targaryen, performing with Matt Smith, who plays Prince/King Consort (it depends on who you ask) Daemon Targaryen had to be utterly surreal. Smith portrayed the Eleventh Doctor on the internationally beloved British science-fiction series "Doctor Who" from 2010 to 2014, meaning he was likely a near-constant pop culture presence for the cast, who are primarily from the U.K. themselves. In order to not allow thoughts of the kindly, funny Doctor infiltrate his mind while acting opposite Smith, Mitchell decided to try something a little unusual. It was kind of Method acting, putting himself into his character as best he could, though he did it in a way that was considerate to everyone involved ... hey, maybe he can give Jared Leto a lesson or five.

You see, in order to really lock into his character's reactions to his uncle Daemon, Mitchell wanted to not ever meet Smith's gaze while they were "out of character," at least not until their first introduction on camera. In an interview with Variety, Mitchell explained his reasons and methodology for avoiding eye contact with Smith, and honestly? It made for an incredibly intense moment and has helped build a unique animosity between their characters, who will go on to be the bitterest of enemies by the series' end.

In the interview, Mitchell explained that he was a big "Doctor Who" fan growing up and he "dreamt of going on adventures" with Smith's Doctor, "very similar to how Aemond would probably dream about going on adventures with his idol." He liked the idea of keeping both Smith and Daemon on a pedestal and separate until they met on camera, and he ran it by showrunner Ryan Condal and had it OK'd by Smith (I assume through messenger ravens or trained interns or something). It led to a perfect moment, when Daemon and Aemond finally face one another:

"I wanted to save that eye contact for a very particular moment in season 1, where these characters finally come face to face at the banquet table and save the eye contact for that moment. It was just pure electricity in the room, to only ever see Daemon and to not see Matt. If you can keep those same relationships off of set that your characters have on set, it can pay off in tremendous dividends."

Daemon and Aemond are an awful lot alike, honestly, as they're both prone to bouts of wandering dark castles while brooding and fits of rage, and they both want the Iron Throne more than their elder sibling who actually sits it. It's truly tragic that the two will become entangled in a desperate dance to the death given how much they could probably learn from one another... but then again, imagine what it would mean for Westeros if they teamed up to take over? Now that's scary.

Here's the thing about both Aemond and Daemon: they are really terrible people. Aemond is basically an anime villain, for heaven's sake, and Daemon's big claims to fame are killing people and marrying his niece. So, when it comes to any additional Method acting or trying to stay "in character" for any length of time, it would be rather difficult for either actor. (Especially since Mitchell and Smith both seem like decent guys in interviews!) There are plenty of ways to delve deep into the mindset of your character without taking Method too far, and it seems like Mitchell found the perfect balance. Good thing, too, because no one would put up with Aemond Targaryen in real life for very long!

While Aemond and Daemon are both pretty monstrous, they're also two of the most fun characters to watch on "House of the Dragon," bringing a bit of camp that the show desperately needs when it gets too dour. Some of that is the writing, but it's really the incredible performances by Mitchell and Smith that make these sinister princes so entertaining.