After the ninth episode of the “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon” there is a new king of Westeros: Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney). Fans of both series immediately engaged in lively debates about the new ruler reminding them of the tyrannical King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson). However, Tom Glynn-Carney (27) sees significant differences between his role and that of his colleague Jack Gleeson (30), as he said “The Hollywood Reporter”.
In fact, he spoke to showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik after the casting about how Aegon was most like Joffrey. “However, he’s not an out-and-out psychopathic character. He’s a lot more complex. His decisions are based on insecurities, confusion and anger. He’s just bitterly confused and mentally ill,” said Glynn-Carney.
“As much as Aegon is a nightmare and how he fights against all forms of rules and discipline, he’s pretty much defenseless,” said the actor. “He’s so addicted to alcohol that he’s a confused, confused man who doesn’t yet know himself. He’s unable to make decisions that will help him. All his life he’s relied on that the people around him make sure he’s doing the right thing. But he’s making terrible decisions, and now those decisions are being made on a grand scale.”
Aegon grew up thinking “that he doesn’t want power,” the actor adds. “And his father didn’t want him to have them. So there’s that resentment too. He’s a very selfish person because he wants to escape. I think if he were a modern person he would leave his family and travel around Australia and grow dreadlocks,” speculated the Briton. This rebellious attitude is also the reason for the relatively short hair: Lush Targaryen curls are out of the question for Aegon: “He doesn’t want to be defined by his family. He hates his family because – in his head – they hate him.”
He had pondered for a long time how he could still arouse sympathy in the audience for such an unsympathetic character, said the actor. He also got advice from the “GoT” actors Kit Harington (35, played Jon Snow) and Alfie Allen (36, played Theon Graujoy).
“I spoke to Kit very briefly about this,” Glynn-Carney said. “He talked about the world itself being huge and remembering that you are just a tiny cog in a huge machine – and it’s comforting to think about it like that.” He also asked Allen about his process at “GoT”. “Alfie said to enjoy it, laugh at it and use the time to play with it. There’s a lot to play with and a little bit mischievous with this character in particular,” says the Aegon actor.
