House of the Dragon star reveals why he 'never made eye contact' with Matt Smith

It’s hard to imagine getting the lucky chance to work with Matt Smith and choosing to absolutely avoid him instead. But in Ewan Mitchell’s case, he saw no better plan.

Starring side-by-side in Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, Smith and Mitchell respectively play an uncle and nephew on the show, Daemon and Aemond Targaryen.

In case the similar-sounding names weren’t enough of a cue, these two Targaryens are very much foils of one another, with Aemond essentially making a messianic figure out of his uncle that he simultaneously admires but also wants to destroy - a typical day in Targaryen family therapy.

Their dynamic is by far one of the show’s most interesting, so much so that it made for one of season one’s most memorable moments.

In episode 8 of season one, titled The Lord of the Tides, the Targaryens have a fabulously forced family dinner whereby everyone achingly pretends to get along despite the crushing weight of succession, betrayal, and murder looming ahead of them.

Fun family dinners! (Ollie Upton/HBO)

During the dinner, Aemond and Daemon have a standout face-off where essentially no words are spoken but the stares between them are enough to yell a thousand words.

In order to prepare for the intense moment, Mitchell decided to completely avoid Smith at all costs, hoping that it would bring out all the drama on the day of shooting.

Speaking to The Face magazine, Mitchell shared: “I did something on Dragon that was the first choice I made on my first day.

“I said to [showrunner Ryan Condal]: ‘I’ve got this idea of avoiding Matt Smith and [even] avoiding eye contact.”

Ewan Mitchell plays Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon. (Lia Toby/Getty Images)

He continued: "There’s this moment in episode eight where we have that intense stare-down. I thought there was something in experimenting and saving that moment for then.

"Aemond idolizes Daemon, and this is the first time that he makes any sort of contact with him. Their family tree is actually a circle!"

Condal was on board with the idea but only on one condition - that Smith would also agree.

When the Doctor Who actor said yes, Mitchell proceeded to completely avoid him and wouldn’t even have lunch near or around him.

Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen. (HBO)

“I just wanted to keep that separation so that I never saw Matt and I only ever saw Daemon,” he explained.

Mitchell’s method-acting concoction clearly worked with the duo’s stare-down in episode eight being one for the ages.

Now we can only hope that he and Smith are finally making eye contact again.