Who is Larys Strong in House of the Dragon? Meet actor Matthew Needham

Actor Needham recently told RadioTimes.com: "Larys is coming into the limelight a bit more, stepping out of the shadows. There’s a lot of chaos and chaos is a ladder and it’s time to start climbing."

He added of his scenes with Cooke: "What me and Olivia discovered was that with Larys and Alicent none of the things that they say to each other are what they actually mean. It's all about what's actually happening underneath the line or in the silences. So that's really, really fun to play.

"And it was just sort of fleshing that out with the writers and directors and really sort of trying to be as detailed as possible, because it's all sub text really. And Olivia is just great. I mean, it's such an odd power dynamic between those two, you're never quite sure who's in control. So it's really fun to play those really messed up scenes together."

Read on for everything you need to know about Lord Larys Strong and actor Matthew Needham.

Who is Larys Strong in House of the Dragon?

Larys Strong is the second son of Lord Lyonel Strong.

Lord Lyonel (Gavin Spokes) is the brutally honest Master of Laws on the Small Council of King Viserys I Targaryen and is the Lord of Harrenhal. He later serves as the Hand of the King.

Larys is the younger brother of the knight Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) and is not a typically masculine and physically strong character – despite his surname. He has a club foot that sees him cruelly nicknamed 'Larys Clubfoot' by other characters in the book Fire & Blood.

In the series, the shrewd character is often seen lurking at court and ingratiates himself with the circle of Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).

The character made his debut in the third episode of the season at the Kingswood camp to celebrate Aegon II Targaryen's second name day.

In the fifth episode, Larys informs Queen Alicent of Princess Rhaenyra being delivered tea by order of the King – exposing that Rhaenyra may have actually been sexually active enough for the King to send abortifacient to his daughter.

This rouses Alicent's suspicions further and prompts her to speak with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) to get the truth confirmed – instead, she learns that the Kingsguard knight had slept with her.

Larys feigned ignorance of the purpose of the tea and Alicent's ignorance of this, but it is clear he was very aware of what he was doing.

The character goes on to play a prominent role in court politics in King's Landing and also plays a powerful role in the upcoming Dance of the Dragons civil war.

At the end of season 1, Larys exposes a plot by Alicent's Lady-in-Waiting Talya as a spy in Mysaria's employ.

If Larys is in keeping with his Fire & Blood book counterpart, fans of Game of Thrones may see some parallels between Larys and GoT villain Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (Aidan Gillen).

Who plays Larys Strong in House of the Dragon?

Larys Strong is portrayed by actor Matthew Needham in House of the Dragon.

Matthew Needham is a 40-year-old British actor who has performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2016, Needham starred in the Oscar-winning short film Stutterer.

The actor has also appeared in the television series Endeavour and Sherlock in guest roles, as well as a role in the film The Ritual.

House of the Dragon season two will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK from 17th June – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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