House of the Dragon isn’t even out yet but one of its stars has revealed that he was racially abused online following his casting.
As per The Guardian, Steve Toussaint, who plays Corlys Velaryon in the forthcoming Game of Thrones prequel, discussed the racial abuse in a new interview with Radio Times.
“When they announced [my casting], one of the first things I saw on social media was a drawing of the character [from the books] next to a picture of me,” the actor, who’s also starred in Doctor Who and Line of Duty, recalled. “And then there was the racist abuse that came with that.”
In George R.R. Martin’s books, the Velaryon characters are described as having white skin and pale hair, while in the new TV adaptation, they’ve been reimagined as black nobles with dreadlocks.
“I kind of thought: ‘Oh, I get it.’ When we were criminals and pirates and slaves in the other show, you were OK with that,” Toussaint continued. “But as this guy is the richest [character] in the show and he’s a nobleman, now you have a problem with it. In House Of The Dragon [our colour] is just a given – I quite like that.”
Toussaint acknowledged that risk was involved in being so open about the racial abuse, but insisted it was important to speak out. “I don’t want this to be my story,” he added. “But I’m not going to deny that it happened. Because it does. It’s out there. And it should never be something that puts someone off from doing something they want to do.”
You can catch Toussaint, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans and many other stellar actors in House of the Dragon when it premieres next Monday, August 22nd. In Australia, it will be available to watch on Binge and Foxtel, with the streaming platforms currently offering a 14-day and 10-day trial respectively.
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Check out the trailer for House of the Dragon:
