'House of the Dragon' director explains the origin of Larys Strong's foot fetish, shooting that scene

House of the Dragon got unexpectedly kinky in the penultimate episode of its first season with a look at Larys Strong's sexual turn-ons.

As we learn, the oily confidant of the crown (played a little too perfectly by Matthew Needham) carries out all sorts of shady missions on behalf of Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) in exchange for a look at her feet while he — *checks notes* — oh, boy....strokes the weasel, shall we say. That's right, the success of Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) remaining on the Iron Throne partially rests on the shoulders of a creepy spy with a foot fetish.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, series director Clare Kilner revealed that the idea for Lorys' private proclivity originated with writer/executive producer Sara Hess. "Her mind is incredible," Kilner said. "I mean, she really wrote us a wonderful episode, I have to say. But, yeah, that was an interesting scene actually... Funnily enough, you get the intimacy coordinators [for] all the nudity, but they don't think about it for this. It's so intrusive and invasive. It's a really dirty scene."

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"In his head, despite it being a very manipulative relationship, I think there is a sort of sick, weird affection," Needham remarked during an interview with TVLine, later adding: "I think he can see the real her. I think. This is just my own opinion, but I think he can see what she’s capable of, and he wants to draw it out."

Chatting with EW on a separate occasion, he described the character as "a mixture" between two Game of Thrones fan favorites — Varys (Conleth Hill) and Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) — both of whom were known for treachery and secret keeping.

"Those are wonderful actors and performances, but I didn't go and study them," the actor admitted. "I just felt like it's its own beast. And it's different writers. It might be in the same world, but it felt like a different show. I don't think I would be doing anyone a favor by trying to replicate someone else's performance, 'cause it's been done beyond perfectly by those guys. I don't think either of those guys burnt their family alive. I'm sure they did other horrible things, but he's his own strange guy, I think. He's on his own path."

Episodes 1-9 of House of the Dragon are now streaming on HBO Max. The Season 1 finale drops next Sunday — Oct. 23 — at 9 p.m. Eastern. A second season of the Game of Thrones prequel has already been green-lit.

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