Matt Smith says he questioned the amount of sex scenes in the upcoming Game of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon.
In an interview with British Rolling Stone, the former Doctor Who star — who plays Prince Daemon Targaryen in the upcoming series based partially on George R. R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood — explained how he felt about the sexually explicit scenes in the HBO series.
“You do find yourself asking, ‘Do we need another sex scene?’” Smith said. “And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we do.’ I guess you have to ask yourself: ‘What are you doing? Are you representing the books, or are you diluting the books to represent the time [we’re living in]?’ And I actually think it’s your job to represent the books truthfully and honestly, as they were written.”
Asked whether Daemon would have these scenes, Smith confirmed yes, joking that there were ‘slightly too much, if you ask me.”
Game of Thrones, which ended its eight-season run in 2019, has faced controversy for its sexually explicit content — specifically for scenes featuring sexual assault. Given that the show is based in fantasy — as opposed to historical fiction — some viewers questioned why it was necessary for the show’s storytelling to include sexual violence.
At a July interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Miguel Sapochnik, who is the showrunner of House of the Dragon and directed several episodes of Game of Thrones, said that the new series would “pull back” on sex scenes, but still feature sexual violence.
“If anything, we’re going to shine a light on that aspect,” Sapochnik said. “You can’t ignore the violence that was perpetrated on women by men in that time. It shouldn’t be downplayed and it shouldn’t be glorified.”
However, an interview with executive producer Sara Hess clarified exactly how sexual violence will be handled onscreen.
“I’d like to clarify that we do not depict sexual violence in the show,” Hess said in an interview with Vanity Fair. “We handle one instance off-screen, and instead show the aftermath and impact on the victim and the mother of the perpetrator.”
