Matthew Needham is still wrapping his head around the whirlwind that was the first season of House of the Dragon.
In the immensely popular HBO series based on the novel Blood & Fire by George R. R. Martin, Needham plays the equally dastardly and creepy Larys Strong, a master manipulator and cold-blood killer, who aligns himself with Princess Alicent (Olivia Cooke) to gain power and stature within the realm.
In an interview with PEOPLE to coincide with Tuesday's release of House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season Blu-ray, Needham, 38, opens up about his reaction to fans fully embracing the Game of Thrones prequel.
Estimating that he had around 13 minutes of total screen time in the first season, the London-born actor proudly reflects on the indelible impression he made via Larys in the first season and gives a tiny tease of what's to come.
Needham also dissects one of the more infamous scenes of the season and explains that, while on the surface he understands why social media went nuts over the foot fetish, there are vastly deeper layers to the moment.
Now that some time has passed, what are your reactions to the success of the show and the massive audience it ushered every week?
MATTHEW NEEDHAM: It's definitely what I imagined. I sort of thought it would be okay, but I didn't think you could capture lightning in a bottle like with the impact of the first series, which was so monumental. So, it was just so lovely to see the people really embracing it.
Embraced, to say the least. Safe to assume you're getting recognized far more often these days thanks to Larys?
I didn't know what to expect, but everyone who has come up to me has been really nice and positive. [Laughs.] There was this one usher who took my ticket for an event and said, "You've been a very naughty boy."
What I find so fascinating and intriguing about Larys is that he is a stone-cold killer who doesn't need to swing a sword. He's playing chess. How do you feel about that? Any jealousy you're not in the combat mix, or it is more fun to play the puppeteer?
[Laughs.] No jealousy of the poor people who have to spend hours and hours shooting fight scenes in the mud with that heavy armor and those heavy swords. I'm very happy to just sit with my stick and watch people. He's a suggestive person, and I don't think we're meant to get the full picture of him just yet. He's not fully in focus yet. He does some completely twisted and insane things, so there's a lot to get your head around. I think he's a very strange person.
Have you run into any of the cast or anyone from Game of Thrones since the season concluded?
I bumped into Olivia Cooke over in London. I was on my way to a job, and she was off to do something. We just literally bumped into each other and had a lovely chat in the middle of Oxford Street in London. Gavin [Spokes], who played my dad, we were actually together on the day the queen died, which was very really surreal. We were waiting for a play when they announced she died. And then we had to stand up for the national anthem. I'll never forget it.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the foot fetish moment between Larys and Alicent in episode 9. Director Clare Kilner previously called it a "really dirty scene." What was your interpretation of that exchange, and what did you think of the audience's reaction?
I don't think you could do a scene like that and not expect the internet to lose its mind, but that is the thing about this job: the oddest, most twisted things become normalized really quickly. Monday, I'm cutting out someone's tongue and then on Tuesday, it's the feet scene.
I don't think it's a foot fetish like we understand it. I don't think he's sexually aroused by feet. It's more that he's making her show her feet. You know, this man who's had this club foot disability all his life is making this incredibly powerful person show him her feet. It's such a power move. It's a way of reasserting control, putting someone in a box. It's a display of dominance, really making someone feel as ashamed of that part of her body as he does of his. It's associating her feet with something traumatic, which is what he does.
And finally, have you read George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood? Do you know where this is all going or are you going to be surprised, like many of the rest of us via the series?
I know the shape of the books, but I don't know how much they're sticking to anything, so I'll find out when I find out.
House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season Blu-ray set is on sale Tuesday.
