Condo of the Dragon’s Ewan Mitchell Is Channeling Tony Soprano and Robert De Niro
Team Dusky is within the waste taking flight. By the discontinuance of Condo of the Dragon season 2, episode 6, “Little Of us,” Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) has joined the fray, hopping on her dragon, Syrax, hunting for the mysterious dragon rider who tamed Seasmoke. On Team Green, issues fall additional into disarray as Prince Regent Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) grabs essential extra energy, kicking his mother, Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke), off the excessive council.
On a brand new episode of Restful Searching at, Mitchell chats about finding the darkness inner Aemond—and how corrupt he thinks the one-eyed prince truly is. “On a scale of 1 to 10? He’s up there,” Mitchell admits. “I’d relate he’s doubtlessly a nine to the eyes of heaps of parents. Nevertheless in his understand, he’s a one. He doesn’t mediate the relaxation he does is slide. It’s all justified.”
Arrogance Soft: Are you able to look advice from us a little bit bit about how Aemond justifies his actions?
Ewan Mitchell: Aemond by no advance truly felt unconditional fancy growing up. He used to be the spare son, despite the indisputable truth that he felt enjoy he have to tranquil delight in been handled as the first. It’s the responsibility of the spare son to battle the battle and to contrivance the a truly great corrupt, so as to tell. He used to be unnoticed plenty as a teenager. He used to be bullied relentlessly by his nephews, his brother performing as ringleader. So Aemond very essential wished to search out his characteristic on this planet. The part is, if a teenager isn’t embraced by the village, they’ll burn it down to truly feel its heat. And so Aemond, with this newfound energy that he has with Vhagar, he’ll now look validation and, within the waste, attention by arrangement of different advance—by arrangement of battle.
Affect that you might even very effectively be feeling that Aemond made a wise resolution kicking Alicent off the council?
Yeah, it used to be tactical. I’ve repeatedly roughly done with diversified motivations for him, one of them being that he wants his mother. He feels enjoy he has to turn out to be the battle hero and beget this battle up, so then he within the waste has time to consume along with his mum. Every time that I done a scene with Olivia Cooke, I repeatedly visualized Aemond and Alicent sitting on a Dornish seaside, graceful sipping on piña coladas. A ways from battle. He can within the waste delight in that time along with his mum that he’s repeatedly craved, that he by no advance truly had.
He roughly needed to harden himself into this weapon and contrivance himself into something deadly so he’s by no advance seen as used again. It’s a little bit bit enjoy Michael Mann’s Heat. There’s a quote in it that Robert De Niro says: “Never fetch linked to someone you’re now no longer willing to hurry out on in 30 seconds flat for those that can even very effectively be feeling the warmth around the corner.” That’s the code that his character lives by.
Aemond has a same roughly code that helps him. That’s why he’s so with out complications ready to hurry out on the madam: Love is weakness in his world. Alicent challenges that code—she is, truly, his kryptonite. With the people who you fancy most and the ones you will need to delight in basically the most, you fundamentally must push them out of the manner to fetch what you will need to delight in. It’s same to the youngster within the playground who bullies his crush. He graceful doesn’t prefer his mum at work. He desires to contrivance the job at hand, and his mum can’t fetch in his manner.
Are there any other inspirations that you drew on in crafting the character?
A wide quantity of issues. I took inspiration from Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, and heaps of different characters who believe a wide energy and inspect that they are able to contrivance issues no one else can contrivance. They witness it as a name to contrivance wide issues, to jot down their names within the ancient previous books.
I took inspiration from ’80s horror icons. I took inspiration from Tony Soprano. There’s a coin that you witness in episode two, that Aemond picks up and finds in his room. All the pieces that coin advance and represents, it’s something that Aemond carries with him in a while by arrangement of the assortment. What James Galdolfini outdated to contrivance for The Sopranos, he outdated to position a little bit stone in his shoe within the scenes where he wished to truly feel the stress and truly feel the building volcano below the surface. I believed there used to be something sharp in inserting this coin in my shoe as effectively. That assassination try on Aemond’s life, it lives rent-free in Aemond’s head. It’s repeatedly on the support of his mind that Daemon (Matt Smith) came this shut to ending Aemond’s life. As a replacement, someone else lost their life within the assignment. There might be a little little bit of guilt there from Aemond, but he might per chance also now no longer ever keep it.
Aegon’s scene with Aemond used to be straight out of Misery. Are you able to talk about the brothers’ dynamic?
Though [Aemond] is the spare, he’s repeatedly felt enjoy Aegon used to be homely to him. When Aemond used to be coaching within the Pink Protect yard below Ser Criston Cole[[Fabien Frankel], Aegon used to be doubtlessly in some sleazy corner in Flea Backside squandering his inheritance. Aemond repeatedly felt enjoy [Aegon] lacked the perseverance to be king. He repeatedly felt enjoy he used to be a higher match than Aegon.
I fancy this relationship on memoir of these two brothers, they’re so diversified in heaps of ways. Aegon himself says in episode 9 of season 1 that he has no must rule. He’ll fetch on a boat and fly far far from the Iron Throne. You might per chance presumably also witness how that might also be profitable to people of the microscopic council, on memoir of that’s someone who you delight in a undeniable control over and be ready to manipulate—and, in doing so, the path of the battle.
Aemond, alternatively, is a persona who that you might even argue has a political agenda, who has this kind of get ambition. You might per chance presumably also witness how that might also be a little bit extra complex to manipulate. I mediate that scene in Aegon’s bedchamber where he’s leering over him, it’s enjoy Aemond is roughly telling him in that 2d: I’m taking on now. What you noticed, you didn’t witness at all. Just let me contrivance my job.
I’m able to’t be conscious if it used to be the director who gave me the path. Nevertheless I very essential wished to position all the arrangement by arrangement of this thought that Aegon used to be this waft caught in a spider’s web, and also you’ve purchased this leering Aemond, who’s the spider.
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