Matt Smith Says There's 'Slightly Too Much' Sex in Game of Thrones' Prequel House of the Dragon

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The Game of Thrones prequel is certified NSFW.

According to star Matt Smith, House of the Dragon may actually have too many sex scenes. The British actor, who plays Prince Daemon Targaryen in the upcoming HBO series, opened up about the explicit nature of the show — and how it differs from Thrones.

"You do find yourself asking, 'Do we need another sex scene?'" Smith, 39, told Rolling Stone. "And they're like, 'Yeah, we do.'"

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In Smith's mind, it all comes down to the books by George R.R. Martin — House of the Dragon is directly inspired by Martin's 2018 novel Fire & Blood.

"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."

Expanding on the amount of scenes in the new series that are sexual in nature, he laughed, "Yeah — slightly too much, if you ask me."

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However, the incoming sex scenes may differ in nature from those seen in Game of Thrones — some of which were blatantly abusive and non-consensual. Executive producer Sara Hess explained how the show is committed to showing non-violent sexual encounters during a chat with Vanity Fair.

"I'd like to clarify that we do not depict sexual violence in the show," said. "We handle one instance off-screen, and instead show the aftermath and impact on the victim and the mother of the perpetrator."

Hess added that there are some sexual instances in which the female participatnt doesn't have much power. "We don't shy away from the fact that our female leads in the first half of the show are coerced and manipulated into doing the will of adult men," she continued.

"This is done not necessarily by those we would define as rapists or abusers, but often by generally well-meaning men who are unable to see that what they are doing is traumatic and oppressive, because the system that they all live in normalizes it. It's less obvious than rape but just as insidious, though in a different way."

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House of the Dragon premieres Aug. 21 on HBO Max.