Fabien Frankel Wishes House Of The Dragon Would Have Let Him Kiss Matt Smith

Of all the characters on "House of the Dragon," Kingsguard knight Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) undergoes one of the biggest and most divisive changes over the HBO fantasy series' first season. Cole is at first a steadfast Kingsguard member, who falls for Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) and sleeps with her. But when she refuses to come with him to the Free Cities, the bitter Cole kills Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod) in a violent rage during the wedding of Rhaenyra and Ser Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate). Cole later becomes one of Queen Alicent Hightower's (Olivia Cooke) strongest allies in the struggle between her and an older Rhaneyra (Emma D'Arcy). 

Frankel liked that the character is never quite what he seems, telling EW, "He's very much set up as a noble, well-meaning knight there to protect Rhaenyra. And for those who've read the book, he isn't that by any means." Certainly, Cole has been one of the more surprising characters of the series, which clearly gives Frankel a lot to work with. But the actor does have one complaint when it comes to his role.

Criston Cole knocks Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) off his horse in the pilot of "House of the Dragon," which results in some tension between the two Westerosi noblemen. But both Matt Smith and Fabien Frankel also wondered if there might be some romantic chemistry there as well.

Frankel told The Times: "I remember Matt saying, 'Maybe they're flirting, Criston and Daemon.' It's funny because I thought that in private but I didn't want to say anything in case it felt controversial." Frankel went on to declare, "Matt's damn sexy in this show, he's the sexiest I've ever seen him."

It sounds like Frankel really did want Cole and Daemon to explore that chemistry. Pop Crave reported on Twitter that during a November 2022 appearance at Comic Con Stockholm, Fabian noted that he was jealous that Milly Alcock got to kiss Smith during Season 1 while he never got to do so.

Certainly Daemon and Criston are each handsome, competitive, and impulsively violent men. They end up on different sides of the Targaryen Civil War, but they have more in common than they'd care to admit. No wonder Rhaneyra is attracted to them both. Who knows? Maybe Criston and Daemon will have some more electric, even homoerotic scenes together in the next season of the HBO drama.