Actor Paddy Considine has discussed his performance as King Viserys in the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, and how a key sequence nearly made him pass out. Considine also shared some heartbreaking stories about how close the show hit to home for him. This story contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.

　　In House of the Dragon, Viserys is very sick and he gets worse with each episode until he eventually dies in Episode 8. Considine said he had a personal connection to witnessing someone becoming frail and infirm--his mother lost limbs to diabetes. Also, he watched his own father slowly die of cancer.

　　"My mom ended up blind and lost both of her legs to diabetes. She very much had those qualities that Viserys had, too. She tried to remain dignified, but there was a part of her that had just given up on herself. That was a difficult thing as a son to watch," Considine told Variety.

　　Considine's father died of cancer, and before that, his father attempted to take his own life. Near the end, nurses told the actor his father had 24 hours to live. But his father lived for three days after that, and Considine watched him wither away in a similar way to the final days for Viserys.

　　"I remember one day looking into his eyes, and I just said to him, 'Dad…'--this is very difficult. [Long pause.] But I said, 'Dad, just let go. Just let go, Dad.' And he couldn't. He didn't want to let go. You know, this is big stuff, but times in his life, he'd attempted to take his own life. And then when I see him dying, I wasn't sure if he finally was like, 'Actually, I really want to live,' or 'I am f**king terrified of dying.' I still don't know to this day. But sometimes when people pass, I feel like they know. It’s like when a dog goes away to die on its own. And I felt that very much with Viserys."

　　For Considine playing a character who is wasting away and on the brink of death, he said his own breathing became slow and shallow, and this made his oxygen level go down, to the point where he almost went unconscious.

　　"I had to be taken off set and given regular fresh air, because I was nearly passing out. It's almost like your brain starts to tell your body that you are sick. It's really quite weird," Considine said.

　　Considine will obviously not be part of House of the Dragon Season 2. He said he wishes the actors well and is feeling "a hint of jealousy" about not being involved. "But at least I got to tell a full story. He had a beginning and he had an end. And the end was pretty spectacular," Considine said.

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