‘House Of The Dragon’ Star Fabien Frankel Spent Months Preparing For Love Scene

“House of the Dragon” premiered in August 2022 and proved to be a huge success for HBO Max as nearly 10 million viewers stormed the streaming service to watch the pilot episode. Now stars of the show are opening up about all the behind the scenes stuff.

Fabien Frankel, who plays Ser Criston Cole, recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the extensive discussion he put himself through to prepare for his character’s sex scene with Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Frankel noted he discussed the scene with House of the Dragon episode 4’s director, Clare Kilner, for nearly seven months to ensure quality.

“It was something we talked about over seven months. It was one of the first things I was very keen to talk about. We were incredibly fortunate that episode 4 was directed by Clare Kilner, who I think is one of the great TV directors working today.

The big thing for me was about it not feeling like another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene, ’cause it’s just not like that. Anyone who’s ever had sex will tell you sex ain’t that beautiful. It isn’t some picturesque, amazing thing. It’s awkward, especially when you are young. There’s an unconformability that one has to sit in, and there’s a discovery and understanding of each other’s bodies — not to mention the practical side of the whole thing.”

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House of the Dragon Season 1 is currently streaming on HBO Max. The streaming service has already renewed the show for a second season, which recently underwent major shakeup following the departure of co-showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik. Keep reading Thirsty for more.

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