House of the Dragon's Steve Toussaint responded to the racial backlash he received online over his casting in the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff series.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Toussaint talked about the abuse aimed his way after showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal chose him to play Lord Corlys Velaryon, the wealthiest man in Westeros. Some fans were not happy with the casting of the Black actor due to the character being white in the books.
"I didn’t realize [the casting] was a big deal until I was racially abused on social media,” Toussaint shared. "Yeah, that shit happened. I was just like, 'Oh wow,' and then I thought: 'OK, so this means a lot to some people, but I can’t allow that to bother me.'"
The actor went on to highlight that, even if the world of Game of Thrones is fictional, it is still important for it "to reflect a world" by depicting people from all backgrounds. "I loved Game of Thrones, but my only caveat was, 'Where’s everybody else in this world?'" he said. "Because it’s a diverse world [author George R.R.] Martin has created if you look [beyond Westeros], and I think this show comes closer to that."
Condal also noted that Games of Thrones' lack of leading actors of color made him and Sapochnik all the more determined to have diverse characters take the spotlight in the spinoff, while also ensuring they did not fall into tired tropes and stereotypes. "The world changed a lot between 2011 and 2021 and [so did] what audiences expect to see on camera," he explained. "The conversations Miguel and I had were: How do we create a diverse cast for House of the Dragon but still do it in a way that feels organic to the world and doesn’t feel like pandering or tokenism — and also have them not be pirates, slaves and mercenaries like you tend to see in high fantasies?"
House of the Dragon is not only making a conscious effort to showcase more people of color on screen but behind the scenes as well. Four out of the spinoff's 10 episodes will be directed by women such as Geeta Patel and Clare Kilner. A number of mentorship programs have also been put in place to encourage crew members of underrepresented backgrounds to work on the show.
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO on Aug. 21.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter