House of the Dragon actor wanted to match his dragon — so his look did

Kieran Bew knows the power of good facial hair. He credits the look for Hugh Hammer’s success taming the massive Vermithor in House of the Dragon’s seventh episode of the season, “The Red Sowing.”

“I had a big beard, and everybody was discussing whether I should shave it off or not,” Bew says. “And I just said: I love Vermithor’s design of his teeth, sort of looking like they’re going in all different directions; like if he bit you, it would be the most painful thing, almost like being trapped in an Iron Maiden or something. And I felt like it was a slightly funny joke about people who have dogs, end up looking like their dogs.”

Bew was aware that Hugh’s whole season arc was leading up to his showdown with Vermithor, and aware of how many aesthetic choices were there to set up the depth of the decision to go to Dragonstone: He kept the beard, and his hair the same color as Daemon’s (if not Viserys’), with a bit of Bew’s own natural hue mixed own. And as he watched Hugh’s agitation with the ruling class of King’s Landing grow, Bew found the role in little beats, like being so desperate for food that he punches a fellow commoner to get a bag.

To him, the scenes were “always like a skeleton” for the larger character arc. But like any good actor (or, as is the case with interpreting a lot of Fire & Blood’s textbook-like account, historian), it was his job to piece together the lived humanity between that.

“To get given a scene where my character is revealing to his wife something enormous […] and he’s arguing to go on a suicide mission,” Bew marvels. “That’s how much he’s decided to keep that a secret. Because of shame, because of how [his mom] behaved, because of his upbringing, because of how painful it was.

“He’s been trying to do something else. And now he’s saying: Actually this is the only thing I can do. I’m in so much pain; I’ve got to do something, I’ve got to do this.”

And so, Bew took all that energy into that final scene of episode 7, where Rhaenyra’s plans to find Vermithor a rider go awry. To him, Hugh’s desperation — to do something, to matter — was near suicidal, even if he’s still afraid in the moment. “He’s come all this way, the stakes are so high, he thinks the dice is slightly loaded in his favor. But it’s still fucking terrifying,” Bew says. “How do you strategize against something that can move so quickly and squash you and drop people on your head on fire?”

Of course, his delay had some upside. “The one thing about [it] going to shit is: the odds improve.”

For inspiration for what the ultimate moment of connection should feel like for Hugh and the Bronze Fury, Bew drew from his time on set — specifically, approaching a crew member’s little Yorkshire terrier on set, who kept trying to go for the tennis ball eyes of pre-CG Vermithor.

“At the moment of claiming, it has to be this, where this dog likes me, this dog is connecting to me,” Bew says, acknowledging there is a difference between a tiny terrier and a dragon the size of four houses. “It’s a connection that’s, like, that delicate. But before we get there, it’s overwhelming. And it’s terrifying. And it requires throwing everything in.”

And in Bew’s mind, everything about the way Hugh claims Vermithor comes from that desperation. Unlike other dragons, Vermithor is looking for a rider who can, as the saying goes, match his freak. So it’s no surprise that Hugh’s aggressive approach spoke to the mighty dragon, given that nothing about the way Hugh claims Vermithor is selfless, in that regard — even stepping in as the dragon targets another Targaryen bastard. After all, there’s nothing like the fear of failure to turn something impossible into a race.

“He’s been pushed to this. Something about growing up underneath the shadow of the aristocracy, the family that he has been rejected from that he’s not part of — he’s not only not part of it, he’s connected to it in a way that is full of shame, that he’s angry about,” Bew says. “If Vermithor chooses her, then what happens to me?”