You’d better sit down before I tell you this: Harry Collett’s hair is real. Unlike most of the House of the Dragoncast, with their braided white wigs, the twenty-year-old actor’s curly brown locks are entirely his own. But given that it’s a fantasy series where dragons darken the skies and where deciphering family trees is more complicated than filing your taxes, Collett must forgive me for questioning everything I see onscreen. “My honest routine is: I get out the shower, slick it back, let it drip-dry, and that’s it,” he tells me over Zoom. “I probably would still have short hair without this show, but I think I’ll leave it this length. Now you’ve given me the motivation.”
It’s more than just looks. Collett’s brunet curls are central to his story on House of the Dragon—a daily reminder that his character’s questionable parentage is an open secret. He plays Jacaerys “Jace” Velaryon, a bastard child who was heir to the throne before a coup in the season 1 finale. In season 2’s episode 7, Jace finally confronts his mother, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), about how his DNA may affect his future.
“There’s a little bit of fear that lies within him,” Collett says of Jace. “All of his life, he’s tried to get away from the fact that he is a bastard, but he knows it deep down. He wants to make sure that by the time he sits on the Iron Throne, everything is perfect and everything is going his way.” Namely, he doesn’t want his claim questioned. “How would people see him?” Collett muses. “In the future, when it’s him and a load of bastards, it’s kind of insulting to him.”
In advance of the season 2 finale, Jace is a little bit frustrated—and held back from reaching his true potential. War is on the horizon, and he’s had little experience in battle. That hasn’t stopped him from begging for a fight every chance he gets. “It’s just a classic thing of a sixteen-year-old being like, ‘Mom, I’m old enough to do this now.’ And your mom going, ‘No, you’re too young,’ ” says Collett. “He’s slowly getting sick of it, and he just wants something to be done.”
Below, the actor talks about his hopes for his character’s future, not wanting to spoil the story for himself, and his new passion for house music.
“Don’t take Jace for granted, because he’s there for a reason,” says Collett.
ESQUIRE: As we head into the season 2 finale, what are you most excited for audiences to see from Jace?
HARRY COLLETT: Jace goes through an awful lot of grief this episode. He goes through a lot of challenging times and fights these battles alone. But as much as he may seem annoying sometimes—talking back to his mother, or practically being a child—he is one of the strongest minds on the show. The dragon seeds were his idea. Without Jace, would we have that? Maybe not. So don’t take Jace for granted, because he’s there for a reason. And without Jace, who knows [what would happen]?
I’m impressed with how little the fans have spoiled House of the Dragon so far. You can read the whole story in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, but I don’t see spoilers on social media.
Yeah, it’s quite cool to watch, isn’t it? It’s like they’re looking after each other in a way. I’ve seen [instances on social media] where if somebody comments on something like, “Do you know what happens in the books?” they’re like, “Don’t click.” It’s nice.
How much do you know about the story moving forward? Are you someone who likes to read everything about your character before receiving the script?
I’ve read the synopsis about Jace from the original books, but I haven’t read it all the way through. I remember Steve [Toussaint] saying he didn’t want to read it, because if something really cool that was in the books didn’t make it into the script, he’d be gutted. I don’t think I could put it any better than he did. I just prepped as much as I possibly could, and it’s gone down well, hopefully, so far.
“For Jace and Team Black, we are the good guys, but we’ve all done bad things,” says Collett.
When you were auditioning for the role, did you know it was for House of the Dragon? I know that some TV series like to put the casting calls behind code words.
For my first two or three self-tapes, my name was Jack and the title of the series was Untitled HBO Series. I had absolutely no idea until they told me before my last audition, which was physically in the studio. I remember someone saying, “Oh yeah, by the way, this is a Game of Thrones spin-off.” And I was like, “What? You’re telling me all this time, I’ve been going for a Game of Thrones spin-off? That’s huge.” But it made my nerves worse in a sense, because I was like, Now I definitely cannot mess this up. The scene that I was given for the audition was me confiding in my little brother, and it was actually a scene between Rhaenyra and Luke. It wasn’t anything to do with Jace. So I practically auditioned for Rhaenyra. [Laughs.] It’s quite clever, doing it that way.
Do you view Team Black as the good guys?
I mean, we’ve all done bad things, haven’t we? But Jace is in the clear at the moment. He is quite a harmless character. He’s political. He’s not very violent, as much as he wants to be. Jace is sixteen, and he shouldn’t be on the battlefield at sixteen. His mother doesn’t want to lose another son, which is fair enough. But for Jace and Team Black, we are the good guys, but we’ve all done bad things. I mean, look what happened with the child in episode 1. As much as that wasn’t deliberate, it can be seen either way.
At least Jace didn’t have any hand in that.
Exactly. I’m quite happy with that fact.
He is one of the strongest minds on the show….Without Jace, who knows?
Does Team Black have a prankster on set, the way that Team Green is seemingly pranking each other all the time?
Bethany [Antonia] and I would play tricks on each other quite a lot. There was this water sprayer that was for the rocks to make them not look dry. And every time I’d see a rock sprayer, I’d go pick one up and spray ’em. You’ve got liven it up a little bit. Some people enjoyed it when it was actually quite hot. But yeah, we also have those big council scenes. I remember Phil Daniels [who plays Maester Gerardys] just let one rip in the middle of this scene, and I was standing next to him, so nobody else really heard it. And I was just really trying to hold in the laughter, because this is a serious show. I hope he doesn’t mind me telling that story, but he deserves it for making me laugh.
Do you ever go on social media to see what people are saying about your character?
I try not to. From what I’ve seen, it’s been positive, so that’s really great. I genuinely love playing Jace, so it’s nice to see that love given back. Compared to the others, he’s a relatively easy character to play. He has an emotional battle going on inside. Outside he doesn’t really show his feelings.
Maybe it’s because I cover the show and that’s how my algorithm works, but I’ve seen so many fan edits where fans say you and Ewan Mitchell are just serving face every episode.
I would say that’s a compliment. [Laughs.]
“I genuinely love playing Jace, so it’s nice to see that love given back,” says Collett.
I was listening to some of the house music that you made. I’d love to know how you got into that.
It was actually when I was waiting for season 2 to start. I thought, I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I’m a big fan of house music in general. I went to this nightclub at this huge London venue called the Beams. And I just thought, Why don’t I just learn how to DJ? That would be a cool thing to do. I’ve got so much time on my hands. It can’t be that hard. It’s like another instrument. I bought the DJ decks right there at the rave. I went outside, bought ’em on my phone, and was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to do this now.’ But it was harder than I thought. Doing the beat matching and all of that. I’’s not an easy thing to do, but I got the hang of it. I just realized that I love making music. Acting and making music—as much as they’re very different—come from the same sort of creative aspect of the brain. I’ve got some really cool stuff coming out soon that is far better than the stuff on Spotify. I’m looking forward to that coming out.
What roles are you interested in beyond House of the Dragon?
I would return to theater, but I’m really enjoying film and TV. I’ve always said that when I get old and gray and I’m on my deathbed, I can say I’ve done every genre. I am very versatile. I don’t want to be stuck to one sort of thing, which I feel is a fear in a majority of actors’ careers. You don’t want to be typecast. So I want to do a lot of different roles. I’d love to write my own thing one day or maybe direct. I was in Dunkirk for seven seconds, but I’d love to work with Christopher Nolan again properly. Hopefully I can make that happen.
Is there anyone on set whom you look up to as a mentor?
A hundred percent. The two predominant ones for me are Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy. They’re my onscreen parents, in a way, but also my offscreen parents. Me and Matt will message a lot. I’ll ask him for advice. And Matt’s great, because he’s been in the game for a long time. Obviously, we film a lot together in this. Anytime I was ever in doubt about anything, we’d sit outside, eat lunch together, and just talk about it. I’m so grateful to have somebody like that. We’re just super close. And Emma D’Arcy’s honestly a gem. We’ve had so many great moments that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
Photographs: ByPip
Grooming: Paul Donovan
Styling: Katie Dulieu
