‘House of the Dragon’ Star James Norton on the Irony of Ormund’s [SPOILER], His ‘Oddly Intimate’ Dynamic With Roddy the Ruin and Why His Love for Daeron Needed to Feel ‘Real’

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James Norton’s tenure as the ruthless Lord Ormund Hightower came to a fiery end in the Season 3 finale of HBO Max’s “House of the Dragon.” The character met his demise at the climactic battle of Tumbleton, where he was stabbed by the mercenary Roddy the Ruin before being consumed by dragonfire alongside his attacker. While book readers anticipated Roddy’s involvement in Ormund’s death, the addition of the dragon provided an unexpected and ironic twist.

Norton revealed that the show’s creators initially conceived an even more extreme version of the scene, with Ormund being impaled multiple times before his final fate. The actor emphasized the importance of playing the moment with authenticity rather than focusing on its darkly comedic elements. “The challenge as an actor is forgetting all the playfulness, ambition and tone around it,” Norton explained, noting that Ormund’s squeamishness about blood and gore made the commitment to the brutal scene paramount.

The actor also discussed the unexpected intimacy created between himself and Roddy actor Tommy Flanagan during filming. Norton found poetic significance in their characters’ shared death in dragonfire, comparing it to intertwined skeletons found in ancient graves. He praised the extensive stunt preparation required by the show, calling the entire process “wonderful filmmaking alchemy.”

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Originally reported by Variety →

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