House of the Dragon's Corlys Velaryon Actor Responds To Racist Backlash
House of the Dragon actor Steve Toussaint responds to the racist backlash he has received for playing Corlys Velaryon. After the well-documented Game of Thrones season 8 backlash left the media franchise reeling, Ryan J. Condal and A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin brought in director Miguel Sapochnik as co-showrunner (with Condal) on their next endeavor: House of the Dragon. Set some 200 years before Game of Thrones, the prequel depicts the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war within the ruling House Targaryen.
A Song of Ice and Fire lore spells out the graphic history of the lengthy battle, primarily between Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Prince Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) over succession to the throne upon the death of King Viserys I (Paddy Considine). House of the Dragon season 1 seeks to explore the events leading to this eventual power struggle, establishing the relationships between its key players. One integral relationship is that between Rhaenyra and Corlys Velaryon, played by Toussaint. Corlys' casting drew criticism from some fans of the books, who assumed Corlys was written white, while Toussaint is Black.
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At a House of the Dragon roundtable interview attended by Screen Rant, Toussaint addresses the backlash he has faced about his playing Corlys. He says he was unaware of the character's race until he obtained the part and saw an artist's rendition of Corlys as a white man. Toussaint claims he has never cared about why Condal and Sapochnik cast a Black man for the role, but he is happy that he earned the opportunity. Check out the full quote below:
To be frank with you, the first time I
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