House of the Dragon's Gayle Rankin gets offered many 'witchy roles' after Alys Rivers: 'Very typecast' | Interview

Gayle Rankin, who plays Alys Rivers on House of the Dragon, chats with Hindustan Times about the character's witchiness and her origins.

In the latest episode of House of the Dragon, HBO’s global sensation, Alys Rivers (played by Gayle Rankin), caused quite a stir when she intimidated a couple of dragonriders by proclaiming, ‘I am a witch!’ It only adds to the enigma that Alys is, in the books as well as in the show. Ahead of the episode’s release, Gayle Rankin sat down with Hindustan Times to discuss her character and the ‘witchy’ typecast she gladly finds herself with.

Ewan Mitchell and Gayle Rankin react to House of the Dragon fan art.

Gayle Rankin on Alys and Aemond

Alys Rivers was introduced in the show's second season, and her arc took her in the opposite direction from Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). In the books, her equation with Daemon’s rival Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) is much talked about. Season 3 will finally show their chemistry. Talking about working with Ewan, Gayle says, “Ewan is so extraordinary. I came into the show one year after everybody else, so I was very familiar with his work. We come from a similar approach to work, so it was really beautiful.”

Alys wears the witch tag as a badge of honour in the world of Fire and Blood (the source material for House of the Dragon). Gayle calls it a ‘gift’ to embody that. “It’s an amazing gift for me as an actor and a woman (to play her). I try to live up to that and embody it. It’s hard to feel pigeonholed into any kind of box. So, to be given this gift of wearing that as a powerful badge of honour and reclaim that idea. So many women struggle with that. It’s been really helpful to me in my life, and I kind of embody it,” she says.

‘Will continue to play witches’

Ask the actor if she has been offered more ‘witchy’ roles since her breakthrough as Alys Rivers and she laughs. “That’s been a consistent thread. Very typecast,” she says, tongue in cheek. “I may have a mysterious, ephemeral quality as an actor and a person. I love playing these kinds of women and would continue to play witches in any form,” Gayle adds.

Ever since Alys was introduced in the show, fans have created countless theories about her character’s origins and any links to the Game of Thrones. One such fan theory says she is the mother of Melisandre (played by Carice van Houten in GoT). Admitting that she has heard of the fan theory, Gayle says, “I think a part of the mystery and the excitement of building this character was letting her do her own thing and letting the fans have their own idea about her. But we have a clear idea. Especially this season, we get a much clearer idea about who she actually is.”

House of the Dragon season 3 airs on HBO and streams on HBO Max. In India, it streams on JioHotstar.