Within the packed foyer of Leicester Sq.\u2019s shiny Odeon cinema, Harry Collett is surrounded by concerned-looking individuals. Some are pointing, most are staring and some even specific condolences: \u201cI\u2019m so sorry.\u201d He may very well be at a funeral for a beloved relative.<\/p>\n
Allow us to clarify. Collett is an actor. For the previous 4 years, he\u2019s performed dragon-riding prince Jacaerys Velaryon in HBO\u2019s standard fantasy spin-off from Sport Of Thrones (you already know, the largest present in TV historical past), Home Of The Dragon. Tonight, we\u2019re on the season three premiere in London \u2013 and the explanation friends appear nervous about Collett\u2019s wellbeing is as a result of they\u2019ve simply witnessed his very violent homicide on the finish of episode one\u2019s epic naval setpiece The Battle Of The Gullet.<\/p>\n
Sploshed into the ocean by a flying projectile, Jacaerys struggles to cease his scaly steed Vermax from drowning. Then, in a sometimes Westerosi shock-ending, 4 arrows spit out of the fog from close by ships and bury themselves in his torso. Queen Rhaenyra\u2019s eldest male inheritor sinks beneath the waves because the viewers gasps \u2013 amongst whom are Collett\u2019s shocked dad and mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI waited to inform them [that I died] till we had been sitting on the premiere,\u201d Collett reveals to NME two weeks later by way of Zoom, grinning. By the laptop computer display, we are able to see he\u2019s having a well-earned relaxation on the mattress in his Stockholm resort room \u2013 the most recent cease in an intensive worldwide promotional tour. \u201cSeeing their reactions on the day was unreal. My mum made a verbal \u2018oh!\u2019 and my dad pulled a face. I feel whenever you die in a present, it\u2019s not usually as brutal as that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Collett\u2019s amphibious demise scene (like an underwater model of Boromir\u2019s Lord Of The Rings offing), was the fruits of a lot exhausting work. For 2 days straight in 2025, from 8am to 7pm, the soon-very-soggy 22-year-old was strapped to a motorised saddle on a Warner Bros\u2019 lot at Leavesden Studios because it repeatedly raised and lowered him into an enormous tank of \u201cactually chilly\u201d water.<\/p>\n As most of you might be regular and haven\u2019t tried to faux your personal demise by drowning, you received\u2019t understand how exhausting it’s to do. All the air in your lungs and trapped in your garments causes you to drift fairly simply \u2013 which makes it exhausting to behave such as you\u2019re being dragged all the way down to the depths. Not very real looking. \u201cIn order that they clipped me [to the saddle] and I truly went down [underwater] every time,\u201d explains Collett. A workforce of scuba divers remained reassuringly shut at hand, able to step in ought to he (whelp) cease respiration. There was one other complication although.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter I obtained out of the water, the medic ran over and was like, \u2018It’s good to include me proper now,\u2019\u201d Collett remembers. \u201cMy fingers had turned blue and she or he thought I had hypothermia\u2026\u201d Fortunately, his fingers\u2019 newly acquired icy tinge was not deadly \u2013 however the results of colored dye operating from Jacaerys\u2019 driving gloves. \u201cI\u2019d worn them for the entire present, however clearly they weren\u2019t made for water\u2026 For a second, I checked out my fingers and thought, \u2018Oh no, that is dangerous. Perhaps I\u2019m actually dying.\u2019 They are saying that your pores and skin altering color is without doubt one of the final levels [of death]\u2026 Genuinely, I feel it put quite a lot of panic into individuals.\u201d Collett pauses for a beat, earlier than deadpanning. \u201cThat was one in every of my funniest moments of filming, truly.\u201d<\/p>\n Raised in smalltown Essex, Collett\u2019s performing journey began from a younger age. He says he was a bubbly child who at all times \u201cneeded to carry out\u201d for others. He confirmed an early aptitude for dancing \u2013 spurred on by an obsession with Michael Jackson \u2013 and at 10 years previous performed a younger Michael Bubl\u00e9 within the Canadian froth-popper\u2019s tacky Christmas video for his duet with Idina Menzel, \u2018Child, It\u2019s Chilly Exterior\u2019. This led to common movie and TV work all through his teenagers that meant he was usually absent from college \u2013 one thing his academics didn\u2019t respect.<\/p>\n \u201cI failed GCSE drama!\u201d Collett gapes. Returning to his alma mater not too long ago to gather his youthful sister after class, he confronted the instructor. \u201cI requested him: \u2018Why did you fail me?\u2019 And he mentioned: \u2018Cos you had been by no means right here!\u2019 Yeah, I used to be by no means there as a result of I used to be filming a film. I used to be doing it for actual!\u201d<\/p>\n Home Of The Dragon didn\u2019t rear its colossal head till 2020, when Collett was 17. He was invited to check out for a top-secret HBO sequence however had no thought what it was. He hadn\u2019t watched Sport Of Thrones \u2013 its gratuitous intercourse, swearing and violence making it unsuitable for his age when it aired \u2013 and even when he had\u00a0recognized his Winterfells from his Westerlands, the audition script modified all of the names and areas anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a scene with Rhaenyra and Lucerys, however they [replaced Rhaenyra with Lucerys\u2019 brother, Collett\u2019s character Jacaerys] and so they had been referred to as Jack and Luke,\u201d he remembers. \u201cWe had been in a front room and I used to be telling Luke how he shouldn\u2019t really feel upset about one thing.\u201d Collett thought he did effectively, however the ready room was full of extra regal-looking sorts \u2013 all longhaired and muscly. \u201cI didn\u2019t assume I\u2019d get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Clearly, he did get it. And 6 years later, Jacaerys\u2019 slow-burn character arc from timid Targaryen scion to headstrong adolescent warrior has revealed Collett to be a younger actor of unusual expertise. His future seems vivid, even when Jacaerys\u2019 story ends (gruesomely) right here.<\/p>\n \u201cI simply wish to attempt a great deal of various things,\u201d he says, after we ask what may be subsequent. \u201cI wish to do a play \u2013 and [in terms of screen jobs] I would like Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio-type roles the place you’ll be able to\u2019t inform that they\u2019re performing. I wish to be actually naturalistic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n You may\u2019t think about Pitt or DiCaprio being allowed to mingle with the friends as they exit a premiere. For now, although, that\u2019s the place Collett is. Everybody within the foyer tonight could look nervous about him, however they shouldn\u2019t be. The sky\u2019s the restrict for this dragonrider.<\/p>\n \u2018Home Of The Dragon\u2019 season three streams weekly on Mondays on HBO Max<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Harry_Collett_Pose.jpg\")
![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Harry_Collett_Actor.jpg\")