Good Men Don’t Fare Well in Westeros
Paddy Considine’s King Viserys Targaryen—chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed King Jaehaerys Targaryen over his daughter Rhaenys Targaryen—is a reluctant, kind leader motivated by family loyalty to carry on the Targaryen name. Considine shared that his take on the character has already earned one very important favorable reaction. “George [R.R. Martin] has since likened Viserys—not before [we shot], but since the he’s seen the show—to be like King Lear. I was quite proud of that because that was an acknowledgment of the word. And George is generous enough that [he created] this body of work, but if someone is going to adapt it, [he gives] it to them and lets them have license with it. All the qualities of Viserys were kind of there on the page. I could see them when I read it. So it kind of already existed in some form within the world. I wasn’t informed by any particular kings really or any particular writings other than George’s world. I was just allowed to go in an expanded and grow on what was already there.”
