House of the Dragon‘s Corlys Velaryon actor Steve Toussaint has responded to racist backlash to his casting in the Game of Thrones prequel series.
Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as the Sea Snake, is an exorbitantly wealthy lord of Westeros and the commander of the world’s most powerful navy. Steve Toussaint’s casting in the role, while receiving much support from many fans, has sadly sparked racist outcry from a few trolls online.
Talking about the responses his casting received recently, Toussaint shut down those who had chosen to attack the casting of a Black actor as Corlys Velaryon.
Steve Toussaint’s House Of The Dragon Experience
During an interview with Men’s Health, Steve Toussaint spoke about the varied responses he had received to his casting as Corlys Velaryon in House of the Dragon.
Talking about those responses that chose to focus on his ethnicity over everything else in House of the Dragon and the world of Game of Thrones, Toussaint called out just how ridiculous such reactions really are:
“It seems to be very hard for people to swallow… they are happy with a dragon flying. They’re happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? That’s beyond the pale.”
Toussaint also points out that “historically, people of my hue and your hue, we didn’t just turn up here in the ’70s or the ’60s,” noting how absurd such criticisms of historical television series are, let alone a series as overtly fantastical as House of the Dragon.
Elsewhere in the interview, Steve Toussaint also noted the overwhelming positive response he received from fans and other actors appearing in House of the Dragon:
“What has been wonderful is for every toxic person that has somehow found their way into my timeline, there have been so many others who have been so supportive and been like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait, this is going to be great!’
“Even when we were doing certain scenes, there would be supporting artists who would come up and go, ‘It’s great to have this representation.'”
It is disappointing to see such reactions still emerging to Black actors being cast in series like House of the Dragon. However, it seems that more and more the prejudice is being overpowered by the positive reaction of genuine fans who are excited to see characters like Corlys Velaryon in action.
Here is the synopsis for the Game of Thrones spin-off series:
Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, the series will tell the story of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal serve as co-showrunners on House of the Dragon and are executive producing alongside George R. R. Martin. The series features a star-studded cast that includes Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Paddy Considine, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, and Sonoya Mizuno.
New episodes of House Of The Dragon premiere on HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 9 ET. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the series and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Men’s Health
