Fabien Frankel is recalling a hilarious run-in. ET spoke to the House of the Dragon actor at the show’s season 2 premiere on Monday, and he recounted meeting Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau before the prequel series premiered in August 2022.
“I met Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in a bar in L.A. about six months before it was coming out,” Frankel, 30, told ET of the actor, who starred as Jaime Lannister on GoT. “I kinda came up to him, I was quite drunk, and I was like, ‘I’m in the show. I’m kind of like you in a weird way.’ I think he thought I was crazy and not telling the truth. He was very, very nice. He’s also so tall and I was like, ‘Wow, hi Nikolaj.'”
While Coster-Waldau may not have recognized Frankel at the time, plenty of celebs have since expressed their love for his portrayal of Ser Criston Cole on House of the Dragon.
“Stormzy, who is a very famous British rapper, who is like a hero in England, I met him and he loves House of the Dragon, and I was incredibly overwhelmed,” Frankel said. “He also had just given one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard at the GQ Man of the Year Awards, and then I saw him. Me and Milly [Alcock] were going upstairs and then we ran into him. He was like, ‘Woah, woah, woah, woah!’ And we were like, ‘Woah, woah. What do you mean?’ Anyway, I told that story badly, but it was amazing.”
Another “crazy” encounter occurred with Tom Holland, who said something “really nice” to Frankel.
“He just came up to me, I was in the gym, and he was like, ‘Love the show, man,’ and he fist-bumped me,” Frankel recalled. “I was like, ‘Thanks, Spider-Man.’ That was really nice.”
As for what’s in store for House of the Dragon fans in season 2, Frankel said that there’s no shortage of action to come.
“I got really lucky. Alan Taylor directed one of the episodes [I’m in where] there is some kind of a battle… He’s wonderful. He’s here tonight,” Frankel said. “And I got to work with Freddie Fox, who plays Ser Gwayne Hightower. I think fans are gonna love him or hate him, but I think they’ll love him.”
While the dramatics on screen don’t provide much in the way of levity, Frankel said it’s much different behind the scenes of the show.
“Genuinely, it’s a lot of laughter. We’ve got a very giggly cast… It’s a very mischievous set,” Frankel revealed. “Freddie Fox ran… full speed from his horse about 500 meters in the middle of a take for no reason, because I just asked him to.”
Season 2 of House of the Dragon debuts on HBO on June 16.
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