House of the Dragon star on character’s racist backlash: ‘I’m not an expert on racism but I’m very experienced in receiving it’

‘It’s a big enough task as it is without having to deal with that stuff,’ Steve Toussaint said

House of the Dragon star Steve Toussaint spoke about the racist backlash he received after news broke of his casting in the Game of Thrones prequel.

Toussaint stars as Corlys Velaryon, also known as “The Sea Snake”. In George RR Martin’s source material, the Velaryons are described as having pale skin, silver hair and purple eyes, however, the clan has been reimagined in the series to allow for more diverse casting in the roles of noble Black seafarers, who are the wealthiest family in Westeros.

The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon host Jason Concepcion said as a “fan of colour” he was “delighted” to see Toussaint in the show as often in fantasy worlds, “we’re not there”. He said: “No one imagined us there!”

Toussaint responded: “I’m very glad between the discussions between Ryan [J. Condal, producer], Miguel [Sapochnik, producer] and Mr Martin, they decided to put some colour in.”

He then touched on some of the criticism Game of Thrones faced for its lack of diversity, saying he had friends who starred in the show but were typecast in roles like “pirates and robbers and slaves”.

“So for them to then decide that, well, the richest man to be a man of colour, I thought that was a very brave thing,” he said.

Toussaint went on to discuss some of the negative reactions that followed his casting as well as the wider news that the show would be diverging from how the character was physically described in the books.

“There were some people who were not quite so keen on people who look like me playing this part, which was a little bit annoying because it’s a big enough task as it is without having to deal with that stuff,” he said.

Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, AKA “The Sea Snake” (HBO)

He added: “Listen, I’m not an expert on racism but I’m very experienced in receiving it so I kind of thought, well, haters gonna hate. I’m just gonna get on and do my thing.”

Toussaint has previously starred in shows including BBC’s It’s a Sin and Doctor Who.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly last month, series co-creator Ryan Condal revealed: “The world is very different now than it was 10 years ago when [Game of Thrones] all started. It’s different than 20 years ago when Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings. These types of stories need to be more inclusive than they traditionally have been.

“It was very important for [co-creator Miguel Sapochnik] and I to create a show that was not another bunch of white people on the screen, just to put it very bluntly.”

House of the Dragon debuts on 21 August 2022. In the UK, the series will air on Sky Atlantic.