“I Want To Be One Of The Best At What We Do”: Harry Collett Emerges From The Fire In House Of The Dragon Season 3

The Essex actor has settled into the rigid, regal leather boots of his breakthrough role as Westerosi prince Jacaerys Targaryen since the show’s 2022 debut. But comfort isn’t what he’s after, and as the events of the third season lead him into a new career realm – it’s clear he’s only just getting started.

Harry Collett and I are either about to start an urban legend destined to seep through the cracks of West End wooden stages forevermore, or stumble upon a golden research question: do children who star in Billy Elliot have a disproportionately high chance of becoming Hollywood superstars? Or, for that matter, of finding their way into some corner of the ever-expanding Game of Thrones universe?

“It is true,” the 22-year-old concludes. “Tom Holland was Billy Elliot for a portion of my time [in the show].” As was Collett’s Westeros colleague, Game of Thrones star Dean-Charles Chapman. “It seems like a few people from Billy are doing really, really well. It’s sort of weird. Hopefully, our generation goes on to do great things.”

Perhaps talent spots talent. Born in Essex, Collett was just six when he landed his first acting gig in the musical. “The role was called ‘Small Boy’, which was basically a kid who comes on and swears for half of the show and then leaves and goes home,” he laughs. “For a six-year-old, you can imagine that was very, very fun.”

When we connect, Collett is sitting at the apex of his breakthrough as Prince Jacaerys Velaryon in George RR Martin and Ryan Condal’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, having just checked into London’s Corinthia Hotel for the first day of press junkets ahead of the Season 3 premiere. Today is the part of the process he finds most rewarding. “Filming House of the Dragon is so fun,” he explains, “but it can be quite challenging with the tiredness and the long hours on set. But the press bit, when you get to see the fans’ reactions and just have fun – I know some actors might say that sitting in an interview room all day can be quite tiring, but for me it’s just not. You’re promoting a show that you love. It’s the best bit.”

Jacaerys’s shoes – or more accurately, leather riding boots – are ones that Collett has been wearing for almost six years now, a tenure that affords a confidence when faced with a rotation of journalists that would outstrip many 22-year-olds’. Add to that the Essex leading-man charm he’s grown into over the years – helped along by Collett’s adoption of his character’s flowing locks, which replaced the buzzcut he hid beneath a wig in Season 1 – and a star-worthy glam team, and Collett is as press-ready as they come.

So much so that it’s hard to imagine a career in acting, with all its attendant obligations,  wasn’t always part of his plan. But before the auditions, the cloaks and the dragons, a vocation more aligned with the aspirations of the aforementioned fictional ballet boy might have seemed more probable. “Up until [the age of six], I had no idea what theatre was. No one in my family has ever done it. I started dancing at my local dance club because I loved Michael Jackson and the greats. I just really wanted to be like them. I felt so free while I was dancing,” he recalls. A theatre scout spotted him during a street dance performance and, with the blessing of his “very supportive” parents, helped set him on the path to a different type of stage. “It’s funny how the universe works. It was never intentional, but I found a passion [for acting]. I just completely loved it.”

In more recent years, Collett has balanced his own coming of age with that of his on-screen counterpart: the fan-favourite Westerosi prince Jacaerys, son of Emma D’Arcy’s Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and heir to the Iron Throne. Yet for someone so deeply woven into RR Martin’s universe, there’s one fact we should probably get out of the way before moving any further: Collett still hasn’t watched Game of Thrones. And, frankly, it might be time we all stopped asking about it. “Even random people, if I’m out having drinks, will [ask me why],” he laughs. “It’s like I’ve committed a crime. But I’ve tried to explain to them that I was so young [when I got the role], it never really crossed my mind. I was watching Stranger Things.  But after I’m done with this series, I will [watch it]. I’ve told everybody this. I will 100 per cent watch it. I’ll probably even document it on TikTok so people can see my firsthand reactions.”

The role of Jacaerys has brought with it, of course, a stellar CV credit, globe-trotting press tours, and the chance to explore the storied corners of Warner Bros’ Leavesden Studios, where the streaming powerhouse shoots many of its biggest productions. “We had Harry Potter filming next door [this season], which was quite weird,” he laughs. But perhaps more valuable than any other perk has been a front-row seat – and, these days, a direct DM line – to some of his generation’s most celebrated actors, many of whom he now counts as friends. “It’s really hard to explain exactly what I’ve learned from them. With Emma and Matt [Smith], for example, I can learn so much just by watching them act. It helps that they play my mother and stepdad because I can sort of incorporate that straight away into my acting on set without it being suspicious that I’m copying them, because, you know, we are related in the show. I think they felt quite protective of me as well because I still am the youngest person, really, who does the press tours and stuff. Just having them guide me through all of this is enough for me.”

It’s a familiar phenomenon among casts working on productions that stretch across years: somewhere between the long days, life milestones and shared experiences, a second family begins to form. Considering just how much life happens between the ages of 16 and 22, Collett has spent some of his most formative years alongside House of the Dragon’s personnel. “I don’t get to see my family a lot when filming because I leave really early in the morning and come home late. But even little things, like having girl trouble, friend trouble, or things happening in my life that I want to talk to someone about, there’ll be cast on set, and everybody’s so close. I’ve got that secondary family there, which is really, really nice.”

Much like its predecessor Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon draws from RR Martin’s Fire & Blood, offering fans a literary roadmap that is, at times, reassuringly accurate and, at others, delightfully unreliable. As a result, speculation around where each new season might be headed has become something of a sport. And if the internet’s many theories ahead of Season 3’s June premiere were to be believed,  this outing would be the show’s most ambitious, expensive and blood-soaked chapter yet, with the Battle of the Gullet – a pivotal turning point in the Targaryen civil war – looming on the horizon. 

When we speak, much of what’s to come remains tightly under wraps. But Collett is willing to offer a few carefully spoken clues. “Jace this season, he’s very angry,” he starts. “He feels like he’s being seen and not heard. He was one of the political masterminds [of Season 2], and he isn’t going to let anybody stand in his way. He knows what he wants, and he knows what he has to do to get it.” 

Borrowed from his character or not, that same determination, ambition and clarity of purpose also shapes Collett’s vision of the future. As a new era dawns in Westeros, the actor is already looking beyond it, focused less on what he has achieved than on everything he still wants to accomplish. “I don’t want to take any time to myself. I want to just do one [project] after the other. That’s my plan,” he says when asked if a break after wrapping a job of House of the Dragon’s magnitude sounds appealing. 

“I just want to stay busy, because if I’m not busy, I find myself losing myself more than when I am busy.” Right now, that means gearing up for the release of Easy, director Luke Eve’s adaptation of Tammara Webber’s weighty Adult contemporary romance, in which he stars opposite Nickelodeon alumnus Lizzy Greene. It’s a welcome shift in direction from the bloodshed and medieval sightseeing he has grown accustomed to as a Targaryen. “It felt really good to do that job because, as much as I love playing Jace the Prince, it was nice to play someone other than a prince for a little bit,” he laughs. “I’m looking forward to that coming out.”

There’s also his budding career as a DJ, which is slowly but surely taking on a life of its own alongside his acting work. Perhaps that growing comfort in front of a crowd could make a return to the stage, in acting terms, feel a little less daunting? “I’d love to do a play next. I’ve never done a play, so it’d be nice to experience that and try something new,” he says.

Being part of an HBO juggernaut of this scale would be enough to send many young actors’ egos soaring. It helps, Collett says with a laugh, that his family has always been there to keep him grounded, even as his life has transformed beyond immediate comprehension. But his greatest asset is, undoubtedly, his drive. “I know this sounds really [cliché], but I want to be one of the best at what we do, and I want to play so many versatile roles. I want to do so many different genres,” he says. “When I get, hopefully, old and grey, and I’m on my deathbed, I want to know that I’ve done everything that I possibly can. As long as I’m doing what I love, and I’m supporting myself properly, I think I’ll be happy with anything that comes my way.”

House of the Dragon is out now in the UK on NOW and Sky Atlantic and internationally on HBO Max