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Steve Toussaint found armour uncomfortable

Steve Toussaint plays Corlys Velaryon in House of the Dragon credit:Bang Showbiz
Steve Toussaint plays Corlys Velaryon in House of the Dragon credit:Bang Showbiz

Steve Toussaint felt he was stuck in "a torture chamber" when he had to don armour in 'House of the Dragon'.

The 57-year-old actor thought his co-stars Fabien Frankel and Graham McTavish - who play Ser Criston Cole and Ser Harrold Westerling respectively - were complaining unnecessarily about their battle costumes, but when he tried on his own as Corlys Velaryon, he realised just how uncomfortable and restrictive the tight-fitting gear was.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly's 'West of Westeros' podcast, he said: "Throughout the filming process, both Fabien and Graham would make complaints about how uncomfortable the armour was. 'Oh, it's digging in here. Ahh! I'm in pain.' We'd just go, 'Oh, shut up, deal with it.'

"Then when I finally had mine on, I was like, 'Oh my God, I understand what you mean. Oh, it hurts!'

"And also underneath the armour, I just remembered I'm wearing this very heavy… tunic, I suppose. Very heavy and very thick. Of course the armour isn't real metal, but it's some sort of hard plastic.

"Your movements are suddenly incredibly restricted. It became something of a torture chamber, actually — a walking torture chamber. But hopefully it'll look good anyway."

Steve thinks his character has found a form of "mindfulness" when he's in battle.

He said: "I think the joy, if that can be the word, in slaughter to him is just that life is simpler here.

"'Here's somebody coming at me with a sword. I have to take him down or he'll take me down. That's it. I don't have to think about anything else.'

"We talk a lot about mindfulness and all this stuff about trying to find an activity where you only concentrate on that and nothing else from the outside world. In a way, I guess the battle and being at sea are the things for Corlys.

"I don't suppose you'd call it mindfulness, but I think it's that idea that he's just concentrating on one task. I think that's why he feels at home.

"I don't want him to sound like some sort of bloodthirsty tyrant, but I think there is, dare I say, a certain joy in being able to be elemental."