SPOILER ALERT!This story contains plot details from episode 4 of Season 2 ofHouse of the DragononHBO.
Damn you, Aemond, and your gargantuan Vhagar!
DEADLINE:Have you seen the whole episode?
Aemond Targaryen, played by Ewan MitchellHBO
I havent even seen Season 1.
Its sort of like that, magnified times a million.
Also, because my background is theater, Im not used to checking back.
I get too easily distracted and then sort of disgusted.
Id love to watch it.
I hear its really great.
DEADLINE:Theres a total jump scare when Vhagar goes for your dragons neck.
BEST: I knew they were doing that.
The closest Ive seen to it is when we were shooting that whole sequence.
Im really glad it worked.
DEADLINE:Did they give you artistic license on how you could plunge to your death?
Was it your call to put your arms up like that?
BEST: It was my call.
I think they wanted a moment of hanging on and then letting go.
It felt like a very natural thing, actually.
It was sort of a peaceful moment after all that.
When we were shooting it, there was a lot of buildup.
It happened to be the last thing that I shot.
We were doing that whole sequence at the end of the shoot.
It was a special day and then [showrunner]Ryan Condalcame in and gave a speech.
It was so lovely.
But it was pressure.
I was like, like dont make me cry now.
Ive got to just get on and shoot this very significant piece of film.
I had a lot of time and I was getting more and more nervous.
And we did it in two takes!
I was like, No, what?
And the director was like, No, thats great.
She lets go literally and spiritually.
It was a real surrender.
DEADLINE:George R.R.
Martins book obviously reveals that your character is not long for this world.
Did Ryan let you know in Season 1 that youre not going to make it past Season 2?
BEST: Yeah, we knew.
It was in my contract that I was only there for two seasons.
So we always knew that it was going to be finite.
Its sort of the nature of the beast, really.
I just didnt know the exact details of when, but I knew that it was on a dragon.
DEADLINE:Were you privy to subsequent episodes?
I mean, did you want to know what the fallout would be to your death?
BESTAt the time I didnt.
I was like, Well, shes done.
And I want to know is Corlys [Rhaenys husband, played by Steve Toussaint] really unhappy?
Is he really upset?
He better be devastated.
He better be crying a lot.
DEADLINE:Did your character go to her death knowing that she wouldve made a better leader than Viserys?
BEST: Oh yeah.
I mean thats her whole journey.
And that just feels so right.
DEADLINE: Can you talk about the significance of Rhaenys look?
It was very tight, though.
Sometimes I did feel like the Tin Man fromThe Wizard of Oz.
I was very limited in my movement.
But it looked good.
And if she looks like an ass kicker, then Im happy with that.
DEADLINE:Are you going to miss how spectacular you looked in the blonde wig?
DEADLINE:I would always study the edges to see if I saw anything that looked like a wig.
You just couldnt tell.
BEST:Its so clever.
There are a lot of Aryan wigs in this.
InGame of Thronesthere was just one.
But Im the same as you.
Im like, wheres the mesh?
They are brilliant at it.
Its a phenomenal piece of engineering.
But its blooming uncomfortable as well, let me say.
I had a hot head full of metal pins, which we all make a run at surreptitiously remove.
Steve is very good at doing it.
The Sea Snake ends up with about one pin at the end of the day.
My wonderful and very brilliant hair person had eyes like a hawk.
She doesnt let me get away with anything.
So if I take a pin out, shes right back in with another one just in case.
DEADLINE: I will miss Rhaenys.
BEST: She is a sexy, cool badass.
Im going to miss her, too.
