Ewan Mitchell Suits Up for ‘House of the Dragon’
Earlier this month, “House of the Dragon” star Ewan Mitchell found himself in New Jersey, ringside for a UFC fight.
“I heard that it was Dustin Poirier’s last fight — I was like, I need to see him,” says the British actor, going on to describe the experience of being close enough to hear the punches thrown and the takedowns reverberate. Mitchell, who started boxing himself two years ago, credits HBO for helping to hook him up with seats: a perk of being part of the network’s marquee shows.
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The actor was in town with his castmates ahead of the New York premiere of the second season of “House of the Dragon.”
The actor stars in the “Game of Thrones”-adjacent series as Prince Aemond Targaryen, a tragic semi-villain. The actor has emerged as a fan favorite for his portrayal of the one-eyed prince, who was neglected and bullied as a child but emerges into adulthood with a firm sense of power — and, after being denied his own dragon egg, the most powerful dragon around.
“You’ve got this giant, badass dragon named Vhagar, and she’s so enormous that she can’t fit within the confines of any castle wall. And the same with Aemond; he doesn’t really fit in anywhere,” says Mitchell, describing his character’s resonance with audiences. “I think people might be able to relate to that idea of standing up in the face of adversity and recognizing that even though you’re on the back foot, you’re the underdog, you’re gonna go out there and do something.”
The actor, dressed in a suit paired with a fitted green Maison Margiela turtleneck for daytime press, credits the show’s costuming and hair and makeup teams for helping him transform onscreen.
“You get a glimpse of yourself in the mirror when you’re in the whole getup; you don’t recognize yourself and it’s liberating as an actor to be able to lean into that,” he says. “When I finally set foot on set, Ewan’s gone and all that’s left is Aemond. When the eye patch goes on, that’s like the cherry on top, the finishing touch.”
Despite not having any connection to the industry, Mitchell decided early on that he wanted to be an actor. As a kid growing up in Derby in the U.K., an industrial town, Mitchell describes himself as “curiously fascinated” by how actors escaped into their roles.
“My brother works in aerospace and a lot of my family worked at Rolls-Royce and so it was kind of expected that I’d get into that industry and follow in the footsteps of my family. And that was just never something that I wanted to do,” he says. “But I always had this curious fascination with acting.”
One day at school, a teacher went around the room asking everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up. “One kid said, ‘I want to be an engineer.’ Another kid said, ‘I want to be an electrician,’” says Mitchell. “And I was like, ‘I’m going to be an actor.’ And everyone in the room laughed. And I was like, oh my god, why not? Like, why can’t I? I think a lot of people thought that my head was in the clouds, so to speak. I think it was and still is — but my feet are very much planted on the ground.”
When he was 17, he attended The Television Workshop in Nottingham, a teen drama program focused on kids who might not have the means to break into the industry. Through the program, Mitchell was cast in his first short film, “Fire,” directed by Christopher Andrews.
“I got it burnt onto a bunch of CDs and I went down on the train to London and I posted them to all of the major agents,” he says. “Out of the 12 or 13 that I had, only one lady called me back up.” That agent was Lizzie Newell, who Mitchell has worked with since. He’s since starred in Claire Dennis’ “High Life” and Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” (in a full-circle moment, film lead Barry Keoghan will star in a feature directed by Andrews later this year).
“Because I never went to drama school, every job for me is like an apprenticeship in a way,” he says. “I think of what Bruce Lee once said: ‘absorb what is useful and discard what is not.’ He would cherry-pick from different combat disciplines and in a way form his own martial art. And in the same kind of way, that’s what I’m doing.”
After press winds down for “House of the Dragon,” Mitchell isn’t yet sure what’s next — although his recent stop in New York, which included a trip to the top of the “Empire State Building,” has given him some ideas.
“Maybe something in New York. It’s definitely stolen my heart a little bit,” he says, describing the atmosphere of the city. “It’s like Bernard Herrmann’s score from ‘Taxi Driver.’ There’s a cinematic quality of walking through the streets. You’ve got the grates producing steam and the fire escapes on the buildings. It’s like you’ve walked onto an indie set,” Mitchell adds. “I like it here. I want to stay. I never want to go home.”
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