'We Were All Pretty Gutted': House Of The Dragon Director Reflects On Paddy Considine's Awards Snubs As Viserys Targaryen Two Years Later
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House of the Dragon Season 2 is now just days away from its finale in the 2024 TV schedule, and Rhaenyra has bolstered the Blacks with two more dragons as of the end of the penultimate episode. Over in Harrenhal, however, Daemon has been plagued by visions that may or may not all be caused by Alys Rivers. While not everybody has loved Daemon staying in Harrenhal for most of Season 2, it has allowed for the returns of actors like Milly Alcock and – more recently – Paddy Considine, When I spoke with director Geeta Vasant Patel earlier this season, she opened up about Considine not getting any awards love for his most powerful episode of Season 1.
Before coming on board Season 2 to direct Episode 3 as well as the upcoming season finale, Geeta Vasant Patel contributed to Season 1 by directing the eighth episode, called "The Lord of the Tides," which was a particularly great showcase for Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen. While Viserys himself had never looked worse than in the episode that would end in his death, I still feel that it was Considine's finest work in a season full of strong performances.
When I spoke with the director of the episode that featured Viserys' tear-jerking last stand for Rhaenyra, I noted that I always felt Considine was robbed of awards recognition for it, and Patel responded:
I agree! We were all pretty gutted when he didn't get a nomination, nor did anyone else really. I was just confused. But my husband thinks that it's because there were so many other shows in their last seasons for that awards run. My husband, the expert who works in IT. [laughs]
Even if House of the Dragon wasn't a shoo-in to win awards like Game of Thrones was in its prime, surely there could have been at least some nominations for Paddy Considine, right?! And I'm not even only referring to the major awards ceremonies like the Emmys and the Golden Globes. On the whole awards circuit for Season 1, the only cast members to be nominated were Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Milly Alcock, and Rhys Ifans. I'm not saying that any of those four didn't deserve some kudos, but why couldn't Considine have made the list?
Of the full first season, I'd rank Viserys' painful walk to sit the Iron Throne one last time to defend Rhaenyra as one of the most memorable and iconic scenes. Composer Ramin Djawadi certainly helped make the sequence all the more epic with some appropriately powerful music. It was the perfect recipe for at least some awards acknowledgment, if not a trophy or two for Considine. Geeta Vasant Patel went on with more praise for the actor:
Paddy did a great job in so many ways. The reason I had always wanted to work on the show, and spent seven years trying to get on this show, was mainly because of the actors involved and the writing that they were entrusted with. I wanted to be part of that storytelling, and Paddy is a perfect example of a dream come true for a director. This scene particularly, he physically and mentally gave it everything he had.
The finished product of Viserys' walk to the Iron Throne was actually even more powerful than as originally scripted. The moment of the crown falling off of Viserys, only to be picked up and placed back on his head by Daemon was the result of an on-set accident. In rehearsal, after the crown fell off of Paddy Considine and was picked up by Matt Smith, the director and actors knew they'd found something special quite by accident. And given that Viserys died not too long after, it was a nice moment between the brothers who had rarely been on the same side of an argument in the whole show to that point.
All in all, I do still wish that Paddy Considine had gotten some awards love since the first was going to be his only season as a series regular. I don't think his cameos in the last couple episodes of Season 2 are enough to qualify him for an Outstanding Guest nominations in the next awards circuit, sadly. At least it's not hard to revisit his highlights as King Viserys Targaryen, as the full first season as well as all of Season 2 so far are available streaming with a Max subscription. It remains to be seen if Considine will get another cameo before the final credits role in the 2024 TV schedule.
