Warning: spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 3.
‘History does not remember blood; it remembers names.’
House of the Dragon fans certainly won’t ever forget the name Corlys Velaryon. Played by Steve Toussaint, the Sea Snake is a force to be reckoned with.
But he hasn’t had an easy road. Tragedy has continually befallen House Velaryon, with Corlys suffering the death of his daughter, the supposed death of his son, and the death of his wife, Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), who perished in battle in season 2.
Corlys is dealt another blow in the latest episode of season 3 when his Queen, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), refuses to legitimise his sons, Alyn (Abubakar Salim) and Addam (Clinton Liberty), who were born out of wedlock. It’s at this moment that he ‘explodes with rage’, Steve tells Metro.
‘He asks a favour of the throne, and he’s not successful. He basically explodes with rage, and so a lot of the season is him trying to come to terms not only with his grief but also with his position. And is it worth it?’ the actor says.
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Corlys’ relationship with Rhaenyra has always been complex. They’re allies, and yet whenever they interact, it feels as though they’re playing a tense game of chess while sharpening their swords under the table.
Steve, 61, feels the same way. He explains that in the first two seasons of House of the Dragon, whenever Corlys was in Rhaenyra’s presence, he would sing her praises, and he ‘felt that she was the right person to rule’.
However, when they were apart, he felt as though ‘everything this woman touches turns to dust’.
‘As far as he’s concerned, he’s lost his son because he was involved with this woman. His daughter was involved with Daemon. He’s lost his grandchild. He then loses his home, which is such an integral part of his identity. They have a very complicated relationship, and it gets more so this season.’
In the latest episode of the Game of Thrones spin-off, Corlys doesn’t mince his words when Rhaenyra tells him that Alyn and Addam can’t be legitimised.
‘Your son Joffrey is a bastard. Your son Lucerys, whom I accepted as my heir, was a bastard. Your son Jacaerys lived and died a bastard. Say aloud to me the reason your children deserve what mine are denied,’ he declares, as Rhaenyra stares back at him, a shocked look on her face.
There are many reasons why Corlys has a right to feel furious, one being the double standard that Rhaenyra also bore illegitimate children (although her husband, Laenor, who was gay, was aware of her romance with her lover, Harwin Strong).
The Sea Snake’s misery is also rooted in the loss of his wife, Rhaenys, who died in a blaze of glory fighting the Greens.
His motivation to keep going ‘stems back to his wife’, who wanted him to back Rhaenyra on her quest to reclaim the Iron Throne.
‘Prior to her demise, she said to him, “We have to help [Rhaenyra] in her quest for the throne because hers is a rightful claim.” She also says to him, “I know who your two sons are, I’ve always known, and you have to recognise them because it’s not their fault that you were lousy to them.” So, as he says in season two, everything I do now I do for her.’
He continues: ‘A combined sense of injustice, indignation and rage is what propels him through this season. He’s lost so much, a lot of it in this cause for very little return.’
Having spoken to Steve and Eve about House of the Dragon before, I can attest that their chemistry is just as dynamic in real life as it is on screen – so much so that many fans thought that they were genuinely together romantically.
‘People used to often ask whether I was actually in a relationship with Eve Best,’ he shares lightheartedly. ‘I asked her. She said, “Oh, yeah, they asked me that a lot as well.”’
We’re now over halfway through House of the Dragon, as it’s been confirmed that the series is going to end with season four.
‘It’s been wonderful to be a part of something where so many people are invested,’ says Steve, who’s previously starred in Line of Duty, The Knock and Small Axe: Red, White and Blue.
‘It’s mixed feelings about the fact that we’re coming towards the end, because on the one hand, I have had so much fun playing this, and I really do like the people that I work with. But as an actor, you’re always looking to try something different. I’m going to try and enjoy whatever part that I play in the subsequent season if I make it that far, but everything has to come to an end.’
Fortunately for Steve, he has an exciting project on the horizon, a film called A Blue Butterfly that he’s written himself, in which he stars as the lead character, Sentwali.
‘Years ago, I had done a movie about the Rwandan genocide [called Shooting Dogs], and I was fascinated by the stories that were coming out at the time. I decided that I wanted to tell a story about somebody living with the consequences of that, and so that’s what I did,’ he outlines.
‘I wrote this thing, and then we set about casting it, and all these wonderful actors said, “Yeah, I’ll be in it.” To be able to portray a character that has an inner turmoil on the surface just to survive, to exist, but also underneath all these raging things happening, this guilt, this need for redemption, and this need for human contact, to be able to play that on a set, and go, “Oh my god, I wrote this, and these people are involved”.
‘It was a wonderful experience to make that movie, and hopefully, towards the end of this year, people will get to see it. It’s called A Blue Butterfly.’
Helming his own psychological drama, Steve has come a long way since the start of his acting career. He originally thought that becoming an actor was a pipe dream, as he ‘didn’t know anybody who was an actor from my neighbourhood’, he told Fabric magazine in 2022.
He previously revealed that watching Gary Oldman, who also grew up in south London, inspired him to pursue acting more seriously, as the legendary actor proved to him his dream was possible. So has he had the chance to tell the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy star what he means to him?
‘Not yet,’ he reveals. ‘I sort of live for moments like that, where I get to meet people who have inspired me, but no, not yet. I had seen him in the TV film The Firm, and then Prick Up Your Ears. It was like two completely different people; it was extraordinary.
‘Added to the fact that he’s from where I grew up in south-east London, it was like, God, if someone from New Cross can do that, then maybe I’ve got a chance. I long for the day that I get to meet him and go, “You man, you did it, you were amazing,” because he’s just one of the finest of his generation.’
Perhaps a role in Slow Horses in future? ‘You never know, you never know,’ he laughs in response.
First things first – will the Sea Snake achieve glory, or suffer even more tragedy? Nothing is ever certain in Westeros.
House of the Dragon is available to watch on HBO Max, Sky Atlantic and NOW, with new season 3 episodes released on Mondays.
An earlier version of this interview was published on June 24.