'House of the Dragon's' Steve Toussaint Talks Corlys' 'Monstrous' Choices

Steve Toussaint's character Corlys Velaryon has made some decisions on House of the Dragon that would certainly be frowned upon by modern society, but it was all in aid of securing his family's legacy in Westeros.

So far in the HBO hit, fans have watched as Corlys suggested his young daughter Laena (Nova Foueillis-Mosé) marry King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) in Episode 2. When that didn't happen, he agreed in Episode 5 to let his son Laenor (Theo Nate) wed the regent's daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), even tough he knew his son was gay.

Toussaint reflected on the actions of his character in an interview with Newsweek, detailing how he felt some of Corlys' decisions could be seen as "monstrous."

'House of the Dragon's' Steve Toussaint Talks Corlys' 'Monstrous' Choices

The show's child bride plotline notably shocked fans, and Toussaint agreed that Corlys' actions that brought about that storyline should be seen as such.

The actor said: "It's an interesting one, because looking at it from our modern eyes, in episode 2, Corlys proposes that Viserys marries his daughter [Laena], and so we have this scene where the two of them are walking along and it's so ridiculous because she's this sweet little girl talking to this old bloke, and that's gonna be mad, it's ridiculous.

"When you're looking at it from modern eyes, or any eyes, you think 'oh, that's just f**king monstrous.'

"But trying to be in Corlys' position, if this marriage takes place it cements his family's position in the realm, it secures them. So I suppose that is [how] he's looking at it, and then of course he feels betrayed by the king's decision [not to marry Laena]."

Going on to reflect on Corlys' dismissal of his son's sexuality, Toussaint went on: "So the next thing, of course, is 'well, in that case, I'll get his daughter to marry my son [Laenor], never mind what my son's nature is, who my son really is. It doesn't matter.'

"I think this is one of the flaws of Corlys. In fact, I think his overweening ambition is one of his flaws and it kind of leads to terrible things that happen later in the season, and, in fact, there is a point in an episode where he does actually sort of go, 'yeah, it was me, I shouldn't have done this s**t, let's just go home and enjoy our grandkids.'

"But, you know, this is Game of Thrones and that ain't going to happen! So, yeah, I think sometimes maybe in life you have your eye on the prize, and sometimes you don't see the little things because you're so fixated on this one goal that you don't see the things that you're trampling underneath, and I feel like that's what happens with him with his kids."

Toussaint has previously spoken with Newsweek about his character, sharing how he felt the Sea Snake, as he is also known in the show, has a great bond with his wife, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), one that would be seen as quite a modern relationship because of the way he supports her.

He admitted that while he liked praising the character he didn't want to "start getting away with myself and gushing so much" because "Corlys is not exactly sympathetic to his son's sexuality when he just dismisses that."

"So he's still got some evolving to do as well," the actor added.

House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.