Steve Toussaint on Corlys finding 'joy in the slaughter' of House of the Dragon 's first big battle
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 3, "Second of His Name."
The War for the Stepstones on House of the Dragon is Corlys Velaryon in his element. The Lord of Driftmark, head of House Velaryon, and the most influential man in Westeros apart from the Targaryen crown was never partial to all the wine-drinking and petty squabbling of the king's Small Council. He's much more at home trekking across open ocean on his famed ship the Sea Snake or in the thick of a battlefield.
Steve Toussaint? Not so much. The actor, who brings Corlys to life on HBO's Game of Thrones prequel, found himself on the backlot of Leavesden Studios in London, where truckloads of sand had been placed to evoke the beach of the Stepstones and a gnarly dogfight was about to commence.
Over the course of about five days, the cast shot the final moments of episode 3, "Second of His Name," which sees the forces of Corlys and Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) facing off against Craghas Drahar (Daniel Scott-Smith), a.k.a. the Crabfeeder, who took over the shipping lanes at the Stepstones with his Triarchy army.
Gary Moyes / HBO Steve Toussaint's Corlys Velaryon rages in the final battle of the Stepstones on 'House of the Dragon'
Toussaint, 57, was dressed in full Velaryon armor and about to sprint across the sand when he felt the karma from remarks he made to Fabien Frankel and Graham McTavish, two of his costars who play Ser Criston Cole and Ser Harrold Westerling.
"Throughout the filming process, both Fabien and Graham would make complaints about how uncomfortable the armor was. 'Oh, it's digging in here. Ahh! I'm in pain.' We'd just go, 'Oh, shut up, deal with it.' Then when I finally had mine on, I was like, 'Oh my God, I understand what you mean. Oh, it hurts!'" Toussaint tells EW on the West of Westeros podcast. "And also underneath the armor, I just remembered I'm wearing this very heavy… tunic, I suppose. Very heavy and very thick. Of course the armor isn't real metal, but it's some sort of hard plastic. Your movements are suddenly incredibly restricted. It became something of a torture chamber, actually — a walking torture chamber. But hopefully it'll look good anyway."
One thing Toussaint did appreciate about his look was Corlys' axe. It reminds him of a quote from famed boxer Mike Tyson: Every punch is thrown with bad intentions. "I think with Corlys, that's a weapon that takes people out with a blow," the actor says. "Whereas the sword fight is a fight. You learn to parry and to twist into all that. [Corlys is] just like, 'Let's get all that crap out of the way. I'm going to take you from the shoulders to your navel, and that'll be the end of it.'"
Toussaint points to another element of his costume, the hilt of his dagger. It's in the shape of an open mollusk, with a pearl on the inside. He says it's meant to be the character's navigational compass. "The actual pearl has got markings on it for north, south, east, west, and so forth," Toussaint notes. "Now, I don't know enough about navigation to even consider how you would use it, but that's what it is."
Ollie Upton / HBO Wil Johnson arrives as Vaemond Velaryon, the pious brother of Steve Toussaint's Lord Corlys Velaryon, on 'House of the Dragon'
It's details like these that gave viewers more insights into Corlys in episode 3.
Another scene preceding the battle, shot near the Holywell Bay beaches of Cornwall, introduces his brother, Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson), whom Toussaint calls "very pious" and who harbors a "strained" relationship with Corlys' wife, Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best). "He never really thinks we should have married, and he doesn't think we should be in this [Stepstones] battle, in fact," Toussaint says. "He just thinks we should stay away from the rest of the Targaryen mad set."
We also meet a grown-up Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), Corlys' eldest son, who's seen as a boy in episode 1. That relationship is slightly more complicated. "Laenor is basically everything that Corlys would want from a son, except for one predilection," Toussaint says. What is that predilection? Stay tuned. "I think that's that age-old thing sometimes with parents trying to live a child's life for them. I think Corlys is guilty of that."
Ollie Upton / HBO Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson), Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), sworn sword Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), and Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) assemble at the Stepstones on 'House of the Dragon'
Toussaint has always seen Corlys as an extreme kind of family man, someone who fights fiercely for his kin and will do just about anything to ensure the future of his line. But the War for the Stepstones emphasizes another side of him.
"I think the joy, if that can be the word, in slaughter to him is just that life is simpler here," Toussaint says. "'Here's somebody coming at me with a sword. I have to take him down or he'll take me down. That's it. I don't have to think about anything else.'"
He continues: "We talk a lot about mindfulness and all this stuff about trying to find an activity where you only concentrate on that and nothing else from the outside world. In a way, I guess the battle and being at sea are the things for Corlys. I don't suppose you'd call it mindfulness, but I think it's that idea that he's just concentrating on one task. I think that's why he feels at home. I don't want him to sound like some sort of bloodthirsty tyrant, but I think there is, dare I say, a certain joy in being able to be elemental."
Listen to EW's full interview with Toussaint on the West of Westeros podcast. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for more exclusive House of the Dragon interviews.
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