House of the Dragon 2022: The ages of the actors playing the lead roles and their fictional counterparts

Young adults playing teenagers in HBO’s “House of the Dragon” are really a little older than that.

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey are in their twenties, while Rhaenyra and Alicent got their start when they were 14 years old.

Daemon Targaryen, played by Matt Smith (who is 39) is shown in the pilot episode as being in his late twenties.

Spoilers for the episode of Season 1 of “House of the Dragon” are ahead.

King Viserys Targaryen is likely somewhere around his late 30s or early 40s in “House of the Dragon.” Actor Paddy Considine is 49 years old.

Over the first four episodes, Considine’s character ages somewhat, therefore he wears a blonde wig and additional make-up to reflect this.

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When asked by Insider about his character’s age, Considine replied, “Middle-aged,” before laughing and referring to Viserys as a “silver fox.” This was just before the premiere of the first season.

In “House of the Dragon,” the main character Alicent Hightower is 14 years old, and Emily Carey, who plays her, was probably about 18 when the movie was shot.

Alicent Hightower

The TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin‘s “Fire and Blood” novel has many significant characters whose ages were altered for dramatic purposes.

When this part of history begins, Alicent is already a young adult in the texts, not a little girl like Rhaenyra.

When asked by Insider, Emily Carey revealed that Alicent is 14 years old at the beginning of “House of the Dragon,” making her around 18 years old by the end of the fourth episode.

At the commencement of “House of the Dragon,” Alicent Hightower is just 14 years old, whereas Milly Alcock was 21.

Milly Alcock was 21 during filming.

Rhaenyra, like young Alicent, starts the program at the age of 14 and matures to the equivalent of nearly 18 years old in the first four episodes.

When the first season of “House of the Dragon” was being filmed, Milly Alcock was 21 years old.

Actor Matt Smith, who plays Daemon Targaryen in the premiere, is 39 years old, while the character is in his late 20s.

Prince Daemon Targaryen

Daemon should have reached his early 30s by the time the fourth episode of “House of the Dragon” jumped forward in time.

As the showrunner of “House of the Dragon,” Ryan Condal told Insider that he envisions Daemon in “his late 20s and then advances to his late 40s – that’s the type of spectrum.”

Both Matt Smith and Fabien Frankel chuckled and declared jointly to Insider, “I couldn’t tell you” when asked their ages.

Smith quipped, “I believe they’re ageless.”

However, Condal shared our line of thought when we spoke with him.

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Condal said, “We kind of treated Daemon as the ageless one.” While Daemon’s lifestyle would age anybody, “he’s simply one of those men that when you see him 10 years later, it appears like he hasn’t aged a day.”

In his own words: “We didn’t really urge the actors to concentrate too much on certain days and ages since we believed it may be misleading.”

During shooting, actor Fabien Frankel was about the age of 28, despite his portrayal as the early-20s-era Ser Criston Cole.

Ser Criston Cole

Condal told Insider that “Cole is in his early 20s, I would say very early 20s” when they first meet him. As time passes, he enters his late thirties.

When Cole comes into the narrative, he is hopeful and full of hope, he is a kind of an Arthurian hero — the poor knight who has strolled in from the Hinterlands, but he has great potential, he said.

But Condal explains that as the program flashes forward and the character is older, Cole has spent more time entrenched at court, and his worldview adjusts accordingly.

He’s probably more jaded, world-weary, and smart than I am, Condal added. And I believe those kinds of things are more useful to the actor than portraying a certain age if that makes any sense.

Later in season one, the show is going to make a significant time jump of about 10 years. Alicent will then be played by Olivia Cooke, who is 28 years old.

Alicent will then be played by Olivia Cooke

Like Cooke, the mature Alicent will seem to be in her twenties.

According to Condal’s interview with Insider, the producers decided early on to cast two actors for every kid role.

Condal said this of the show’s central premise: “It’s a conceit but I think it does work, having watched it a bunch of times.” This was said in a roundtable interview with Insider before the series premiere.

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True “children” in this situation will be recast, he said. When we meet individuals who are already grownups, we make them seem older with hair and makeup and, in some cases, have the actors alter their voices to make them sound older.

When Rhaenyra enters her late 20s, she will be portrayed by a different actor as well. After that, 30-year-old Emma D’Arcy will be the one in charge.

Rhaenyra will also be played by a new actor

Fans have yet to see D’Arcy take Rhaenyra’s place, but when he does, they will get a glimpse of a more refined version of the heir to the Iron Throne.

On HBO on Sundays at 9 p.m., you can catch “House of the Dragon.” ET.