How to Get Cast on HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’

Co-created by Ryan J. Condal and George R.R. Martin, “House of the Dragon” is a prequel to “Game of Thrones” that takes place 200 years before the events of the original series. The show is based on Martin’s 2018 book, “Fire & Blood,” which traces the long, storied lineage of the Targaryens, the house that ruled the kingdom Westeros for hundreds of years.

Season 1 focused on the growing rift within the family following the decline and death of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). Though he named his firstborn daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), as his heir, the Iron Throne ultimately went to her younger half-brother Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney).

By the season finale, the battle lines were clearly drawn: on one side, the Blacks, led by Rhaenyra and her husband (and uncle) Daemon (Matt Smith); on the other, the Greens, led by Aegon’s mother, Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), and her father, Otto (Rhys Ifans), who served as the Hand of the King for both Viserys and Aegon. Season 2 traced the civil war within House Targaryen, known as the Dance of Dragons, which was spawned by the death of Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys. But when the family’s war leads to the accidental death of an innocent child, Alicent and Rhaenyra form an unexpected truce that will set the stage for Season 3.

But “House of the Dragon” is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many other “Game of Thrones” spinoffs in development, including “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” based on Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg” series, which premiered on Jan. 18, 2026; “Ten Thousand Ships,” which takes place 1,000 years before the original series; and two animated shows, “Nine Voyages” and “The Golden Empire.” (A previously announced “Game of Thrones” sequel centered on Kit Harington’s Jon Snow is no longer moving forward.)

The Season 2 ensemble included:

• Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen
• Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower
• Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower
• Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon
• Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon
• Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen
• Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen
• Bethany Antonia as Lady Baela Targaryen
• Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys Velaryon
• Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria
• Phoebe Campbell as Lady Rhaena Targaryen
• Phia Saban as Queen Helaena Targaryen
• Anthony Flanagan as Ser Steffon Darklyn
• Graham McTavish as Ser Harrold Westerling
• Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole
• Matthew Needham as Larys Strong
• Jordon Stevens as Elinda Massey
• Paul Kennedy as Lord Jasper “Ironrod” Wylde
• Jefferson Hall as Ser Tyland Lannister and Lord Jason Lannister
• David Horovitch as Grand Maester Mellos
• Gavin Spokes and Lord Lyonel Strong
• Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong
• Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower
• Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers
• Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull
• Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull
• Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome
• Kieran Bew as Hugh Hammer
• Tom Bennett as Ulf
• Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark
• Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne

Season 3 will also be adding multiple new cast members:

• James Norton as Lord Ormund Hightower
• Tommy Flanagan as Lord Roderick Dustin 
• Dan Fogler as Ser Torrhen Manderly
• Tom Cullen as Ser Luthor Largent
• Joplin Sibtain as Ser Jon Roxton
• Barry Sloane as Ser Adrian Redfort
• Annie Shapero as Alysanne Blackwood
• Pearl Clark as Princess Jaehaera Targaryen

Kate Rhodes James is the CD for the series. Primarily based in the U.K., James has put together the ensembles of hit shows like “Bodyguard,” “Sherlock,” and “Raised by Wolves,” as well as films like “House of Gucci” and “The Last Duel.”

James told us that at the beginning of her career, she “just said yes to everything” in an effort to expand her knowledge and network. In recent years, she’s been able to focus more on what she likes to do: looking beyond the usual pool of Hollywood actors to find fresh, up-and-coming talent.

“I know that I want to do [a project] when it’s something that I would want to watch,” she said. “I think a big mistake is casting something that I have no desire to watch, because that’s sort of pointless. I still see casting directors as hugely creative. We look at scripts in a way that actors look at scripts, which is: What can I do to make this come alive? What can I do to improve it, or what about me and my knowledge [can I] lend to this piece and these people to make this into something that everybody wants to watch?”

James is always keeping an eye out for new talent, even if an actor hasn’t applied to one of her projects. “We’re constantly looking for the person that we don’t know about. We don’t want to look at the people we already know about,” she said. 

She reminds auditioners that CDs are on your side. “I always say to actors, ‘We are your warriors.’ Actors have no idea how much we fight on their behalf. We really do,” she explained. “I think that’s why so many casting directors get a bit grumpy the longer we do it, because we get overlooked so often. You think, Wow, how hard did I have to work to get that actor in that role who is now a huge success on the basis of this bit of casting, and you’re not recognized further down the line?”

She also wants actors to know that auditions are not a test. “By the time I've brought you in, I've already talked about you,” says James. “I've already said to the director, the reason why I think, you know Joe Quinn is right for this role is because of this, this, and this, and this. He's this kind of person. He's really professional. I've done all of that. And they go, ‘Okay, fine, he's right for this, right? Yeah, I want to meet him now.’ That's 50% of the job in the bag. I think actors need to know that, so that they walk in knowing that they can be more confident that they've been invited in. I always thought it was a test, and that's probably because people made me feel like it was a test, but we want you to get the job. We're doing everything in our capacity to make sure that you get the job. I think that will give [actors] more power, it will help them in the room to know they don't have to come in, you know, jazz hands, ‘I can sing, I can dance, I can do all of these things.’ We already like you. Now let's see whether you fit in with the vision, and let's see whether you and the director can work together. That's kind of it. I wish I'd known that as an actor, because I treated every audition like a test, and therefore it was always a miserable experience. And it shouldn't be. It just shouldn't be. We can't do our job without actors, we just can't, and I think sometimes actors feel very powerless. I want to be able to offer them as much to empower them to be the professional actors that they want to be.”

Because “Game of Thrones” lore has become so expansive, mapping out the family members involved was critical. “We had a big board and we had the family tree,” James told IndieWire. “I drew it and we would just have images of the sort of person we felt would be right in those roles — not literally who we wanted to cast, but just because we needed a visual aid all the time, because the names weren’t guiding us in the beginning…. It was a constant thing and we weren’t allowed, obviously, to tell anybody who the characters were. So we had to give them codes.”

She added, “[The challenge] was very much just remembering what the bloodline is and where it leads, because the fans are so forensic and so passionate, and quite rightly. Every move that we made was with them in mind. It kept us on our game.” Luckily, visual cues came in handy when casting those of the Targaryen bloodline. “When you’ve got the blonde hair, that’s something that can bring [a family] together very quickly. You can identify that’s from that family and it makes sense,” James said.

“When you are casting a show like this, faces really have to be identifiable,” James continued. “Because the names are complicated; it can be quite dark. Everyone has to really, really inhabit [their character] physically, as well as creatively. I’ve known Kieran [Bew] for a long time. I cast him in ‘Warrior.’ What we needed for Hugh [Hammer] was the physicality, but also that paternal quality, that protectiveness that he has.

“And also, when you’re putting together a piece like this, you’ve got to think about who’s gonna get on well with each other. The initial cast are really, really strong. They were all, within reason—bar [Rhys Ifans]—relatively unknown. They all really, really had an incredible support network going on and still do. They’re very close,” she added. “So when you’re bringing new people in, you have to be really careful that you’re not going to bring in someone that’s going to upset what we have. I’ve seen that happen. I know that when somebody is maybe not as collaborative as they could be, the show will suffer. It’s immensely important that when you’re bringing in new people, they’ve also got the confidence to just walk in and inhabit that role and deal with all the existing elements.”

In an interview with “Good Morning America,” Cooke said that auditions for “House of the Dragon” were “extensive.” She continued, “I don’t know how many auditions I did; I did loads. Then I was put on hold for six weeks and then sworn to secrecy, and then found out I had it, and then sworn to secrecy before the press release came out. I had best friends of mine being like, ‘What? Why didn’t you tell us?’ I was so scared that someone was going to come and abduct me and make me disappear.”

D’Arcy told the Hollywood Reporter that they and their team embarked on a monthslong audition process that began in the early days of the pandemic. Self-tapes called for multiple hairstyle changes—and lots of dedication. 

“I had a bag of hair in my color from another job, and me and my partner, we literally stuck it to my head, which took about two hours every time I self-taped,” D’Arcy said. “At the end of that, I did a four-hour in-person audition, and then I didn’t hear anything.

“I feel like, by the end of three months, I had taped every scene in the show—because they took a punt on me, I guess, in that I couldn’t bring an audience,” they continued. “I just remember that it was good for a while, and then it was awful. And then after a few hours, they said, ‘Great, you can go home and get drunk; we’ll be in touch.’ Then [Season 1 co-showrunner] Miguel [Sapochnik] came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders and said, ‘Can we do one more?’ ”

As for how Glynn-Carney landed the role of Prince Aegon, James told us she saw him at a play at the Royal Court.  

“It was the Jez Butterworth play [‘The Ferryman’] set in Northern Ireland in the ’70s. The band at the time were the Undertones… and Tom’s entrance is he comes in and he dances to [their song] ‘Teenage Kicks.’ I was in the front row—which was not ideal, but it was for this moment. He had his Doc Martens just banging up and down… really getting into it. And I just looked at him and thought, That’s commitment; that’s a fearless actor….

I just instinctively knew that Tom would know what to do. Because you have these situations in [Season] 1, when you go, ‘You’re not gonna do much; but trust us, Season 2, you are gonna set the place on fire.’ And what I love about what Tom does is that he really understood, from the get-go, the tone. There’s always a slight wryness to what he does. He’s really enjoying it, so we’re really enjoying it.”

While filming for Season 4 likely won’t begin until early 2027, sticking to the series’ two-year cycle with a projected 2028 premiere date, we can confirm that its next will be its last. In January 2026, HBO confirmed “House of the Dragon” will officially end with Season 4. “The idea has always been to follow the history of the Targaryens,” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, told Deadline. “If you know the books, you know how the Targaryens end up. So there is a natural end to this particular history of that House of the Targaryens.”

HBO’s “House of the Dragon” isn’t currently casting, but with Season 4 firmly on the horizon, that’s bound to change. If you’re looking to join a similar project, we recommend bookmarking this roundup of streamer casting notices, which updates regularly, and our guide to auditioning for HBO.

Doing background work often serves as an easy way to get your foot in the door on a major production. For more information on how to land gigs as an extra, check out our guide to background acting.

“When people don’t get the job, nine times out of 10, it’s never because they’ve done anything wrong,” James told us. “It’s just usually not quite what the director has in mind, or they’ve met somebody else that they think would suit better.” Here are the CD’s major do’s and don’ts.

• Do remember that every role is important to the bigger picture. Although some parts are smaller, James encourages actors to consider what they can bring to the project as a whole, regardless of their place in it. “When you read it objectively and you realize it’s a good piece and [think about] what you can contribute to that, it’ll be worthwhile. Because we’re all replaceable, including myself, so it’s the question of working or not working.”
  
• Do bring your authentic self to your audition. “I love actors that know who they are. They have an inner voice, and they’re not trying to please me. They bring what they want to bring in the room. Those are the sort of people I can bring in time and time again, and then they start to get the gigs, and it all snowballs from there.”
  
• Don’t grouse about your personal life in the room. James says actors “shouldn’t complain about their children keeping them up all night or complain about how they got stuck on a trip,” because they are “draining the energy in the room” and limiting the time they have to showcase their talents.
  
  “My favorite actors are the ones who go, ‘Can we just do it?’ Because it’s only ever about the scene and the role. It’s lovely to have a nice chat and all of that, but it’s all the process in the pudding. We need to see what you’re going to do with [your audition]. I always advise that, no matter how tired you are, just zip it. You don’t want to know about how tired we are.”
• Do commit to your choices. “Make a decision about the character. It doesn’t matter if it’s wrong…because when you come into the room, you bring that into the room, and then the director will step forward and go, ‘OK, great. I love that. Let’s do it again,’ and then they very politely direct them in a completely different way.
  
  “Don’t go into a room expecting the director to answer your question, because they haven’t got time. Decide that [your character was] unloved as a child or that they were spoiled as hell as a child—whatever it is. You don’t have to tell us. Just make that decision. It always shows.”