Fabien Frankel talks to Glass about his transformation for House of the Dragon

From Summer Issue 58

British-French actor Fabien Frankel speaks to Glass Man about embarking on the hugely popular House of the Dragon franchise as a knight in shining armour

WITHIN the space of one afternoon in 2020, Fabien Frankel learnt, shot and sent a quick self-tape for an HBO project then-titled Red Gun. Five months later he was told he got one of the leads in the highly-anticipated Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.

“It was mental to be honest,” recalls the 30-year-old actor, still in disbelief at the turn of events that led to him getting the part in a single audition. “I didn’t even think about it. It felt so not in the realm of the types of roles that I would get.”

But the role of Ser Criston Cole was his. Unequivocally too. “It was the craziest day ever. I almost fainted. I remember I got told, and I sort of crouched over a table being, like, ‘Are you guys joking?’ I kept feeling like I hadn’t done enough work. I was so surprised because it’s not that I had a body of work behind me for people to see, so it was a huge risk.”

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

Like its predecessor, House of the Dragon embarked with a cast of names that were both familiar and completely unknown. On one end of the call sheet, there was Paddy Considine, Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke, and on the other was Emma D’Arcy, Milly Alcock and Frankel. Just like the original, the latter half echoed the same fate as Sophie Turner, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington, fast-forwarding a plethora of scattershot roles and arriving into a franchise with a devout audience ready to be enthralled again.

But as Frankel sits opposite me, sipping on a Diet Coke, there’s not even an inkling of cockiness that comes with his tanned, traditionally handsome looks. He is acutely aware of the importance of the role that has defined his career so far – but to get to the point of being sat on set for a cover shoot didn’t come without years of indefatigable work.

Born in London to English actor Mark Frankel and French marketing executive Caroline Besson, the destiny of his career may have been foreshadowed from day one. Unfortunately, Frankel’s father died when he was just two years old in a traffic accident, leaving his cinephile mother to single-handedly raise him and his younger brother Max.

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

An eclectic array of British classics, American blockbusters, French sitcoms, DVD rentals and trips to the local cinema were weekly occurrences during his and his brother’s childhood. Counting The Mask of Zorro and French actor Louis de Funès’ comedic flair as their “bread and butter when we were kids”, it’s thanks to his mother that he got a well-versed insight into cinema. “I think probably, to some extent, she did it to honour my dad,” he says reflectively. “I guess subconsciously, it was something I’d always thought about doing because of my dad.”

But back then, film and TV were an interest rather than a hobby. “I could never get a good part in a school play,” he recalls. “I was always like the photographer or the servant in the background.” When Frankel turned 18, he pushed aside these small-scale productions and pivoted his trajectory to learning how to move from backstage to front of stage through education. Aware of his lack of experience, he began by applying for a foundation course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before completing a BA in professional acting at LAMDA. 

“Some actors are really just born with it and just come out and knew how to do it quickly. That’s just not me at all,” he answers when I question him about going down the traditional route. “I was not good. And I’m not saying that in a sort of self-deprecating manner. I just didn’t get it. I even look back at my first self-tapes before I’d even been to drama school at 17, and it’s just mortifying to watch. It truly is amazing that I’ve even got a career at this point.” 

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

Four years later, Frankel did the work and graduated with a leading man charisma that would act as a toolbox to lay the foundations for the young actor. It began with theatre when he starred in The Knowledge at Charing Cross Theatre in 2017 before playing a supporting role in the hit movie Last Christmas.

In the BBC’s 2021 drama The Serpent, he revealed a discernment in choosing roles that would slowly unravel his masterclass of techniques on screen. But, despite the slow success, these markers on his career were eclipsed by the sheer weight of becoming a part of House of the Dragon.

Set 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones and based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood from his A Song of Ice and Fire series, House of the Dragon is centred around the internal conflicts of the Targaryen family and its succession line, ultimately leading to a war known as the Dance of the Dragons.

Premiering in August 2022, the debut episode was welcomed with an HBO record-breaking viewing figure of 10 million and an order for a season renewal within five days. What came next was a Golden Globe for Best Television Series and a plethora of cast nominations for Outstanding Performance that gave the ensemble the coveted nod of approval from critics and its audience.

“Obviously I felt pressure as a fan of the original,” replies Frankel when I ask whether there were any misgivings prior to the show’s release. “But it just felt like a completely different show, and the scripts felt so different. The world is so much more contained in our show, like all the groups of characters are living under the same roof – almost like a family kitchen sink drama as opposed to Game of Thrones, which starts with all these worlds that you’re trying to establish.”

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

In the first season, Frankel’s character Criston Cole begins his narrative as the personal guard and lover of Rhaenyra Targaryen before serving as a member of the Kingsguard. It’s here that audiences fell for his dark features, praising him as a true knight in shining armour. Like all good storylines, character flaws flourish following heartbreak, and Cole turns his back on the future Queen – a decision that splits viewers.

But before any lines were spoken, Frankel had to convincingly transform himself into a knight. “They had me work with a walking coach because I naturally move my shoulders in a weird way,” he laughs, trying to exaggerate a shoulder drop. “I mean, not in a weird way, but I’m just not very knightly. They had me working with a military advisor, a guy who’s a sergeant in the army, who literally put on the armour and walked in it to get a walk down.” What was that like?  “Initially, it doesn’t feel so heavy. It’s heavy after 10 hours.”

House of the Dragon was estimated to have a production cost of $20 million per episode for the first season. The various moving parts of each scene would mean it would take days, if not weeks, to film short segments, with four directors taking charge of the 10 episodes. “Our longest days were with this director Claire Kilner, who’s just a barrel of fun and just loves being there,” reminisces Frankel over the grandeur of filming this juggernaut.

When viewers last saw Frankel, he had placed a crown on Prince Aegon’s head, announcing him as the true heir to the Iron Throne. It was here the show finished. Building up to the second season, well-crafted mini trailers have been released under Green and Black perspectives, vividly outlining the fragmented backdrop of the narrative to follow.

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

“The second season feels very different from season one,” hints the actor about his own development in the war-torn family. “It was nice to read the season and go ‘wow, that’s the direction that he’s going in’. It was so far away from how he started and so far away from how he finished the first season. Obviously, the show is set over 25 years, and I’ve got to play him from supposedly 20 to about 46. I’m just not 46 – I need to lose my skincare routine.”

As Frankel dances around the subject, I politely nudge for a better insight into the tightly-clad script. “I’ll get shot if I say anything,” he grins. “But I will say that I’d like to think that by the end of the season, you’ll feel differently to how you feel at the beginning of the season. But, the first few episodes … We’ll see. Fuck knows what people will say.”

While Season One may have tested Frankel’s stature in his costume, this season, he was horseback. “I think I’d been on a horse twice before I started filming,” he explains, cracking up. “Then I’m on it with armour.” Working closely alongside new cast member, British actor Freddie Fox, the pair’s first meeting in rehearsals was less than conventional. “Me and Freddie did a riding lesson together where he and I were on the same horse, linked up and holding each other,” he says, grinning. “We didn’t even know each other. It was like the most romantic first date of all time.”

Still a month away from its release, I ask him what it was like to watch the episodes once the soundtrack and mammoth injection of special effects were put in place. “In a weird way, it’s near impossible to imagine what they do,” he says. “I think what you see on the day feels very contained, and then all of a sudden, there’s a thousand more people in it than who you shot with and a thousand more horses, fire and dragons. There are days where you just can’t wait to see what it turns out like.”

Despite the mass transformation in post-production, Frankel still winces at the sight of himself. “My biggest surprise was how incredibly unpleasant I found watching myself on screen. Most of the time I spent watching it was with one eye closed.” 

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

Steering himself into a liminal space of not being pigeonholed, Frankel is currently in production for a new, unnamed HBO crime series in Philadelphia. Working closely alongside the state’s task force and training with them for three months, he admits that, although he’s not deliberately doing different genres, the experience has been transformative.

“The hope is that you keep getting to do roles that feel like you’re telling a new story and from a different perspective,” he explains. “You just want to work with great filmmakers, whatever form that takes.” Counting his current co-star Alison Oliver as “generational”, he admires her ability to adapt and change. “To work with someone who’s so consistently reinventing themselves and doing so with so little ego, because she has none, I would say she’s someone I really look up to.”

Though playing Criston Cole may be Frankel’s current constant, he effortlessly counteracted the fantasy world of dragons with roles that push him further into reality. Beginning to produce and direct with his brother, his modest demeanour deflects praise, but it only proves my estimate that Frankel’s duality lies further than King’s Landing.

by Imogen Clark

House of the Dragon Season 2 is available to stream on Sky Atlantic and NOW from 17 June 2024 

Photographer: Kosmas Pavlos

Stylist: Luke Day

Grooming: Nadia Altinbas using DIOR Backstage Foundation and DIOR Homme Dermo System

Styling assistant: Zac Sunman

Talent: Fabien Frankel

All jewellery: Cartier

Look 1: Suit, shirt DOLCE & GABBANA, Shoes MANOLO BLAHNIK

Look 2: Top, trousers McQUEEN, Shoes CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

Look 3: Jacket, top CARLO MANZI, Trousers GUESS from SEROTONIN VINTAGE, Glasses MOSCOT

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