Fabien Frankel began his time as Sir Christian Cole “Dragon’s House” like a valiant knight who saves Princess Rhaenyra (then played by Millie Alcock) wildly and dutifully fulfills his role as her sworn protector. However, everything changed after he and Rhaenyra slept together and he confessed to Queen Alicent (then played by Emily Carey) and committed brutal murder. For his part, Frankel is acutely aware of how unlikable his character has become. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Frankel revealed that he knows fans’ opinions of Cole have changed. “They’re not into it anymore,” he laughed.
Frankel admitted that he had “kind of an inkling that some people didn’t like me” even before his betrayal aired. “We went to Comic-Con and I remember all the actors lined up and I heard a guy say, ‘This guy plays Kristen Cole. I hate this dude,” he said. The actor was probably referring to San Diego Comic-Con, which ran from July 21-24 – meaning the incident took place before the episode where his betrayal and character change took place. “I was very confused. I was like, “Already? It’s not even out yet,” the actor told Phelan.
In the fifth episode, which aired on September 18, Cole strengthens his loyalty to Alicent (now played by Olivia Cooke), and his close relationship with Alicent led to some speculation about that he and the queen could be more than friends. Although the Targaryen dynasty is getting closer and closer to civil war, it is clear that Cole has chosen his side.
Behind the scenes, Frankel fought various battles – including nerves. “I get really nervous every time I go on set,” he said. “The first day we shot, it was a huge scene. It featured all the cast members as Paddy [Considine]Fig [Ifans], Matt [Smith]left [Cooke] — all really good actors. . . They did close-ups of everyone, and they all did really well. It finally got to me.” All he had to do, he said, was roll his eyes, but “I got a kind of spasm in my face,” he said, adding that one of the showrunners, Miguel Sapochnik, immediately came over. to him in front of everyone and asked him: “What’s wrong with your face?”
Another early challenge was his armor, which he described as “pretty heavy.” During the first two weeks of filming, the suit was so cumbersome that he had to “sit around like a zombie and people fed me like I was really sick.” However, as the shooting progressed, the costume became easier to handle. While Frankel declined to divulge any details about what will happen in the show’s final two episodes, given the violence that’s about to erupt after leaking the entire season, that armor is guaranteed to come in handy.
Watch the interview below.
