'House of the Dragon' star Matt Smith says Rhaenyra and Alicent recasting is a 'brilliant' idea

• "House of the Dragon" stars Matt Smith and Paddy Considine praised the recasting of young actors.
• After a 10-year time jump, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower will be played by new actors.

"House of the Dragon" stars Matt Smith and Paddy Considine praised the show's creators' decision to recast Rhaenyra and Alicent following a 10-year time jump.

In the first five episodes of the "Game of Thrones" prequel series, Milly Alcock and Emily Carey portray the show's main characters, Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, when they are between the ages of 14 and 18.

However, in the upcoming sixth episode, there will be a 10-year time jump to when Rhaenyra ascends to the Iron Throne.

At this point, Rhaenyra and Alicent will be played by Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke respectively and the twins Laena and Laenor Velaryon will also be replaced by older actors.

During an interview with E! News, Smith who plays Rhaenyra's uncle, Daemon Targaryen, said he thinks the recasting is a "brilliant" idea.

"It was brilliant, actually because I think they've done brilliant work," Smith said. "It gave you a completely different context for the age thing to play off."

Considine, who plays Rhaenyra's father, King Viserys Targaryen, also said the recasting is a good idea.

"Yeah, I loved it," he told E! News. "I loved it because they were the same character, but they [had] different energy."

Both Carey and Alcock have become breakout stars for their performance in the first five episodes, with fans calling for them to return as Rhaenyra and Alicent in future seasons.

Smith predicted this during a roundtable interview, which Insider attended, before the premiere of the series, saying the young actors will "emerge as stars."

Last week, Alcock told Nylon magazine that she finds her newfound popularity "straining."

"I'm trying to not look at it and trying not to engage with it because it doesn't benefit me," the actor said. "It just makes me incredibly anxious. Me seeing my face constantly is straining. No one should have to do that. It fuckin' sucks, man. I don't know how the socialites of the world can do that. It's kind of driving me off the wall. It's an incredibly difficult space to navigate."

The young "House of the Dragon" star also said she was surprised by the scale of the show and thought she'd get fired quickly.

"You quickly adapt and it all becomes quite normal," Alcock said. "But the first two, three months I just thought I was going to get fired constantly. It was incredibly intimidating."

Carey, who was 17 when she was first cast, told Newsweek that she was initially "scared" by her sex scene in episode four but an intimacy coordinator helped her through it.

"But, it scared me, because at that point I still hadn't met Paddy, I didn't know how much of a joy he was and how easy he was going to make [the scene], and all I saw was, you know, a 47-year-old man and me, I was a bit concerned," Carey said.

New episodes of "House of the Dragon" air Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.