Home of the Dragon‘s most memorable moments are usually flashy, (quite literally) fiery, and shot by way of with agonizing violence. There was loads of that in last week’s episode, however episode five, “Regent,” which aired last night, gave us one of the vital highly effective reactions we’ve ever seen on the present—and in addition one of many quietest. In a brand new interview, “Regent” director Clare Kilner mentioned the way it all got here collectively.
We’ve seen admirable decisions involving shocking restraint earlier than on Home of the Dragon. One other huge instance from season two got here in the premiere, when Heleana witnessed her younger son’s brutal beheading, then scampered by way of the Purple Maintain to ship the information with an obvious lack of emotion. However that’s completely different than the way in which we noticed Alicent react in “Regent” when the Small Council picked her son, Aemond, to rule instead of the gravely injured King Aegon.
It’s a two-fisted blow, as a result of not solely are they shoving the much more skilled Alicent apart, principally based mostly on the truth that she occurs to be a lady, they’re additionally appointing somebody she is aware of might be a merciless chief. She additionally suspects, accurately, that Aemond’s the rationale Aegon returned from battle in such horrible form.
Within the scene, as a substitute of specializing in the smug, newly promoted Aemond as he begins issuing orders, Kilner brings the digital camera in on Alicent’s face because the sound within the room round her turns into quieter, and her bodily response (fast respiratory, fast coronary heart beat) to what’s simply occurred turns into obvious. In Olivia Cooke’s fastidiously calibrated expression, you see a lady feeling a blender of feelings: indignant, disrespected, and insulted—but in addition panic. She’s terrified about what this can imply for the long run.
Speaking to the Wrap, Kilner defined why she held that shot on Cooke’s mesmerizing efficiency. “For each scene, I do a great deal of prep beforehand when it comes to breaking down the scene and looking out on the characters, however I additionally stroll onto the set with my DP and we speak about if we had only one lengthy shot how would we shoot it,” the director stated. “I used to be identical to ‘this might all be on Alicent. I might shoot this complete scene on Alicent.’ Additionally as a result of Olivia Cooke simply quietly brings all the pieces. Behind these eyes there’s a lot occurring.”
Kilner defined that she and her crew all knew that was the proper alternative. “Generally you don’t know if studio or folks will allow you to do this. Everybody was on board with that. It simply turned so patently apparent that this big betrayal was taking place,” she stated.
New episodes of Home of the Dragon arrive Sundays on HBO and Max.
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