Steven Prusakowski
Welcome to the next episode of the TV Topics podcast. Host Steven Prusakowski along with co-host Abe Friedtanzer and guest host Emilia Yu will be your TV guides, walking you through our guest’s TV landscape. For episode two we have a very special person sitting on the TV Topics couch who just so happened to have delivered one of the most intense performances on television this year.
You know him from his work on HBO’s House of the Dragon, as a dad struggling to help his family in In America, and saving the world in Edgar Wright’s The World’s End. Of course, it’s the incredibly talented Paddy Considine. Paddy sits in as we bounce around his relationship with TV, from his favorite primetime show as a kid, to what show made him cry most recently, to what TV show he’d like to live in, and much more.
Plus we take a break from his trip down TV memory lane to deep dive into his must-watch work as King Viserys. Paddy delivered some really thoughtful and entertaining answers in a fascinating conversation fans of his work on the series will really enjoy. Below are some excerpts, but you should listen to the conversation in its entirety below. One takeaway from the conversation, Considine always knew the role of King Viserys was special, a project he already felt at home in from the first script:
“It was one of those rare things where I saw this character and I knew how he moved. I knew how he stood. All I had to do was jump the fences and live in him. Now talking about acting, I think is a bit naff. It always sounds naff. It sounds like the actor is trying to make it greater than it actually is, the process and things like that. But all I’ve learned over the years about acting is to just jump the fences. Don’t be scared and jump in there. Viserys was the greatest opportunity for me to be able to just jump in wholeheartedly and imbue him with life. And it was a joy to do it. I loved him, I was spoiled with him.”
The source text, “Fire and Blood,” written as a fictional historical document spanning well over a century of Targaryen history, leaves much of Viserys’ demeanor to the reader’s imagination. With Considine’s performance and interpretation, it’s now hard to imagine him any other way.
“I like to think I brought a lot to him,” reflects Considine. “I’m a terrible critic of myself. If I get a script, I’ll say to my wife—I start reading it and I’ll go, ‘Why haven’t they gone to such-and-such for this? They’d be brilliant in this part. Why have they asked me to do this?’ I do that all the time. And it’s terrible. But actually, with Viserys, it’s one of those rare ones where I go, ‘Nobody. Nobody would have done that with him, because he was mine.’ And I owned him. And I breathed him with that life. And I brought that life to him. And that’s something that I’m really proud of.”
Though Considine’s performance was instrumental to the success of the first season of House of the Dragon, it’s not the television universe he’d choose to live in (we don’t blame him). Find that answer only in the podcast (above).
Thank you to Paddy for taking a seat on the TV Topics Podcast couch. Check out his mesmerizing work on House of the Dragon on HBO (streaming on Max). Listen below and hit subscribe to hear all of our upcoming conversations.
Future episodes of TV Topics will feature more of your favorite actors and actresses, who will also discuss their relationship with TV. Other non-guest episodes will focus on Emmys talk, spotlighting must-watch TV series and performances that may not be on your radar, what we’re watching and more. If you love television and good conversations, you’ll love TV Topics. Coming up next will be Shrinking star, Christa Miller.
Subscribe to TV Topics on Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, Stitcher, Pandora, IHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Radio Public, Castbox, Google Podcasts. (Coming soon to Overcast, Pocket Cast, and more platforms.)
If you would like to be a guest on TV Topics, reach out to Steven Prusakowski.
Comments
Loading…