Steve Toussaint reveals House of the Dragon finale has been written, previews Season 3

Actor Steve Toussaint aka Lord Corlys Velaryon has been in Auckland to launch both season 3 of House of the Dragon and also HBO Max New Zealand.

He spent time discussing what's ahead for the new season, which launches Monday, June 22 on HBO Max NZ, as well as previewing the show's eventual end and revealing which role he'd love to have played in the Westeros Universe.

So what can fans expect from the upcoming season?

Steve: Well, when I read the scripts, my first thought was that it was an extraordinary mix of violence and political intrigue, because it's Westeros, you've got to have some violence! But also that combination of political intrigue, emotion. I think we get the balance right.

It's a heck of an opening as well with the Battle of the Gullet, which a lot of people have been expecting and waiting for. Knowing that, were you nervous filming all of that? 

Steve: Yeah, it's all of those things! I wasn't aware, okay, I'm not in touch with the fans, so I wasn't aware of how much people were anticipating it. I just knew it was something that we had thought we were going to do in Season 2, and then we couldn't because we cut down the number of episodes and so forth. So I knew we were going to do it. I had been told, I think it was around the end of Season 1, I had been told, when we shoot this big battle, we're going to shoot it in South Africa. And I was like, "Oh my God, I've never been to South Africa. And it's going to be hot, and the lovely blue water, and it's going to be great."

When we came back to Season 2, they said, "Oh, it's not going to be South Africa." And I was like, "Oh, where's it going to be?" And they went, "Wales." I was like, "Okay, well, Wales is nice, we can do that." Finally, when we came to shoot it in Season 3, they were like, "It's not going to be Wales, we're going to do it around the back." So I was more feeling aggrieved about that! (laughs)

And then, of course, Loni (Peristere), our director, then took me through what we're going to be shooting, and he showed me all the models and the visualisations and stuff like that. Yes, there was a certain amount of trepidation, but also just excitement, because when I read it, I just thought, I don't know how they're going to do this. And now I've been through, and I finally got to see it just recently.

Yeah, it's amazing. I can't wait for people to see it. 

READ THE REVIEW OF SEASON 3 OF HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

It's obviously one of those kind of things that as a fan they're excited for, but also as a fan boy, a young boy playing with swords and that sort of stuff, it must have been quite cool to be part of. Was there ever a moment you thought, I can't believe I'm doing this, and I don't want to mess this up for anyone around me? 

Steve: Do you know what? This is going to sound really cliché, but every day, really. Because initially, when you first walked on there, they built these ships, and they're huge. So I walked onto that, and Loni says to me, "This is yours, man. This is your world." I was like, "Oh my God." 

Then as you're going through the fight sequences, myself and Abu and Abigail, yeah, you couldn't help but pinch yourself, because you wanted to sort of go, "You know, like when you're a kid? Yeah. And then I do that, and then you do that." You wanted to do that. It was just the best!. 

Tell us a bit about the dynamic of your character this season. I can't really go into spoilers for obvious reasons, because dragons will fly by, and we'll all be torched! But it is quite an emotional arc, I think, for Lord Corlys this time. 

Steve: (Laughs) Yes, and I was really happy about that. Because where we meet him at the beginning of this season, he's still grieving for the loss of his wife. She was his rock. She was the person that he was most comfortable with. And now she's gone, so he's kind of ruthless.

At the same time, trying to forge some kind of link with his illegitimate son, trying to make up for all the years of neglect, or maybe neglect, abandonment. And that's not easy, because of course, Alyn, who is very similar to Corlys in many ways, is a man who wants to forge his own way. He's got this far, taking care of his brother and himself. And he's just got a lot of resentment towards his dad. So Corlys has had to show vulnerability, show some humility. In episode one, there's that scene in the cabin where he says, worse to the effect of, "This breach between us, it's my fault and I'm sorry." That is seismic for Corlys. He doesn't apologise to anybody, and now he's having to do that.

The rest of the season is about him dealing with the grief, dealing with a sense of rage. Because he feels that he and his family have sacrificed way, way more than anybody else in the realm. He's lost his children, he's lost his wife and so forth. So having to come to do with that, and his place in the realm, and whether he wants to be part of the realm has been a lot of what we explore. 

Westeros isn't really a place for regaining humanity, but I'd suggest perhaps that Lord Corlys does gain a lot of humanity in the early episodes.

Steve: Yes, I think so. I think so. Because I think for a lot of his life that we see in the first two seasons, he's about legacy and about getting close to the throne and about what's right and so forth. This season is about him going, there are more important things. Interpersonal relationships, the relationship with my children is very important. You can't take those things for granted, which I think he did.

I think he loved his children, but I think there was all that there was going to be there, and there will be pawns that I will move and so forth. And now he's having to learn otherwise. 

What's the vibe like on set? Do you enjoy the work with the cast? Is there a lot of time for messing about? 

Steve: Oh, I hate them. No, I'm kidding. No, they're lovely. It's a fantastic set. I mean, we always feel sort of weird saying it because you just think, "Oh, you're supposed to say that, aren't you?" But no, they really are a lovely bunch of people. And that's right down from the production people, the ones that I know anyway, writers and so forth, the cast and crew are just fantastic. 

I really enjoy going to work. Do you know what I mean? And then so that when characters, actors are no longer with us, it's a bit of a wrench.

There's talk that season four will be the end of the prequel. Are you excited for what's ahead for your character? Do you know much about what's planned? 

Steve: I have no idea at all. I mean, we had the premiere in London just recently of this episode [Episode one] And Ryan [Condal, showrunner] said to me, "Yeah, we've just finished a draft of the final episode." 

And I was like, "And?". He was silent, so I have no idea what happens.

I'm excited because I like this storyline and I like the idea of when we started this idea of a family tearing itself apart and what that does, but where the story will take us or me, our characters, I've got a clue. 

There's obviously been some talk of a Sea Snake prequel which would be animated, which you would be keen to be part of?

Steve: I would love to be, but I have no idea where that is in terms of development. I spoke to, I saw George [ R R Martin, writer] earlier this year and all he could say was, "It's ongoing." I don't know what that means. Yeah, I'd love to.

But I think they've got, I'm not sure, but I'm sure I've read about at least three, maybe four Westeros- related projects and that's one of them. 

When you first started out, your first job was a genie in a Panto in Bromley in the UK. Did you ever imagine that you would end up at this stage of your career in this side of the world? 

Steve: No, I didn't. I mean, I hoped after that pantomime that I wouldn't do another and I haven't...

Oh no, you didn't....

Steve: (Laughing) See, that's why I hate that. I didn't really get them. But no, when you start out, you you have these dreams that you're going to be successful and then they get to the point where you just want to be working.

And that's kind of where I'm at, where I'm just like happy to work and I'm happy to enjoy each moment as it comes. But no, I think if you had spoken to me as I was about to go on stage with the funny hat and the curled-up slippers and you're going to be talking about what you do in New Zealand, I'd have been like, no. 

And someone's going to mention the genie role as well....

Steve: Yeah, exactly. I'm trying to get away from that!

What do you think the fans will take away from this season? What do you hope they'll take away from the action, from the intrigue and also from your character and his place in Westeros? 

Steve: I hope that they will be engaged with it. I hope that they will be moved by it emotionally. Because one of the things you want to do with all the characters, especially in a violent world, is you want to do as much as you can to get the audience to identify with them so that when we do lose them, it is a real sense of loss.

I just watched this first episode in Italy. We were in a really lovely venue in Sicily just a couple of days ago. And as we were watching it, the audience were clapping and then going, "Oh." It was beautiful, actually. I hope that people are engaged and I hope people go on a journey with us and feel that loss the way we want them to.

Is there any other character you'd have liked to have played in this prequel or in the wider Game of Thrones universe itself? 

Steve: In the wider universe? I don't know the name of the character, but Pedro Pascal played a character in Game of Thrones who was just so good. [Oberyn Martell] I mean, he ends up getting his face bashed in Westeros, but he was such a good swordsman and also played so beautifully. I would love to have had a go at that. 

Of our lot, probably Daemon. I don't think I am totally the wrong person. I couldn't have played it, but I like that character. I like the fact that he just walks to the rhythm of his own drum and just does what he wants to do. And yet at the same time, there is a sense of vulnerability there, the fact that he really wants to be loved by his brother and so forth. I like that as a character. 

It does seem that this season, everyone has a moment of humility and humanity in the episodes that have been made available.

Steve: I think so. It's important. Somebody said there are no heroes and villains. I agree. I think that was George's intent. And then Ryan and our makers, that was their intent too. I think that's important. (10:33) I look at, for example, I look at someone like Aemond, for example, and you just go, "Oh, he's horrible and cold." But actually, when you watch him and against the way Ewan plays him, you just kind of think he just needs a hug! He just needs someone to say, "I see you. It's OK." I love that about these characters.

You've had quite a few varied roles for your career, what do you want to do next? 

Steve: I'm just a day-by-day kind of person. I'm currently in production on a film that I wrote. So we've shot an awful lot of it back home in London. There's some more shooting to be done in Africa. And then we're going to try and get that out. 

If I could do more stuff that I, if I could create some stuff, that would be ideal. There was a point when I first started where I was like, "what would be the dream? Would it be to make stuff and work with my friends?"

And so that's what I'd like to do. 

House of the Dragon streams Mondays on HBO Max New Zealand.