Rhys Ifans Cast In Game Of Thrones Prequel, House Of The Dragon

Looks like we have a new hand to the king

House of the Dragon appears to be bulking out it’s cast with more big names. According to Deadline, Elementary‘s Rhys Ifans has now joined the cast, along with Nurse Jackie‘s Eve Best, It’s A Sin‘s Steve Toussaint and Crazy Rich Asian‘s Sonoya Mizuno.

Ifans is set to play Otto Hightower, The Hand of the King and close counselor of King Viserys Targaryen (being played by The Death of Stalin‘s Paddy Considine). Otto will also be the father of Alicent Hightower (to be played by Bates Motel‘s Olivia Cooke). Deadline also reports that:

Otto loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne.

Touissant will star as Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as “The Sea Snake”. He is described as:

A legendary seafarer who hails from a Valyrian bloodline and has created a house that has deeper pockets than House Lannister — and which has the largest navy in existence.

Best will play Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Lord Corlys’ wife. She is:

A dragonrider who is known as The Queen Who Never Was, thanks to losing out on a path to the throne to her cousin, Viserys, just because he was male.

Last but not least, Mizuno is to play plays Mysaria:

came to Westeros with nothing and has been sold more times than she can recall. She could have wilted… but instead she rose to become the most trusted — and most unlikely — ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.

House of the Dragon – co-created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal – is to be set 300 years before the events of GOT and follow the fall of House Targaryen. Condal will serve as co-showrunner with Miguel Sapochnik, with the former set to direct the pilot and additional episodes. Martin, Condal and Sapochnik will all executive produce the show along with Sara Lee Hess, Vince Gerardis and Ron Schmidt. The show’s first series is said to consist of 10 episodes.

House of the Dragon is set to start production in April, with a 2022 release date being eyed.