In Conversation With Phia Saban Star of 'House of the Dragon'
Phia was photographed in New York by Julia Sariy; she was styled by Cher Coulter and is wearing Simone Rocha and boots by Paris Texas. Hair by Gareth Bromell and makeup by Quinn Murphy. Interview by Alison Engstrom. Photography assistance by Joy Cho.
I am excited to talk to you about ‘House of the Dragon’ and about your dreams for your career. But first, how has the anticipation been leading up to the release of season two?
It's funny because in order to make the show with any integrity, you cannot think about the scale of it at all. It has to be about the moment you're trying to make special and doing justice to the reality of the reality. I mean, it’s a show about dragons (laughs). I hope people will find it's a family drama and the dynamics are very human. You almost can't focus on what a big thing it is, but there's nothing like doing a press tour and going to New York, Paris, and London. You realize it is bigger than the soundstage in Watford (laughs). I guess the answer to your question is trying not to anticipate anything. That’s the other thing, it's fantastic when things are amazingly received especially since it has such a built-in fan base. People love it almost before it even exists, which is fantastic. It's been very warm and lovely how everybody has received us.
Has the excitement around the project sunk in yet?
When I watched the first episode, 90% of me thought, this is really cool—cool because I was watching my friends on TV. But 10% of me thought that's the way I've done it; it’s permanent and that represents me now and that’s quite hard. It's easy to feel a bit existential about it, especially when you've started with theater and went to drama school. There's something amazingly ephemeral about theater and the fact that it doesn't exist anymore once it's happened.
When you have something with a big budget and loads of people working on it who really believe in it, everyone is so engaged in how to serve the story best, but it's not the same as theater. When you wrap that's the scene. It doesn’t have anything to do with me anymore, and it's going to be made into something else. During a play, the only people who shared the moment was me and everyone else in the room, and then it goes out into the ether. I am on the journey of finding that on the screen because it's not the same.
absolutely, it’s a little bigger of an audience—It’s inside people’s home, but times millions and millions!
Exactly—that's a nice way of thinking of it, that it is still being shared. With a show that comes out with one episode a week, there's something communal about that. It can be a talking point at the pub or work, which I really like. When Succession came out weekly, I was like, I'm so glad I'm alive to watch this week by week (laughs).
You mentioned you graduated from drama school, and this was one of your first roles.
I did have one part before, The Last Kingdom, a Netflix show, which is about Vikings and Saxons. I was in my third year of school, and it was during that third year Covid came. So we were all sent home and we didn't ever have that closure. But also, you're doing an acting degree and you think, the thing I'm in denial about is that this might not even happen for me. Then suddenly theater doesn't exist and you're back in your childhood bedroom. I mean, worse things were going on in the world, but I think that when I got that part in The Last Kingdom, it felt like magic. I couldn't believe it. I got to go out to Budapest for eight months. The cast was so warm and welcoming. I got the House of the Dragon job while I was on that job. I had a bit of time to wait in between them, but it was time I could obsess about the scripts that I did have and all my ideas about her.
That time was obviously so challenging for everybody. My heart went out to the people graduating from college. It was the first year of the rest of your life and something so unprecedented happened. But it's turned in your favor, so that's awesome.
I feel very, very, very lucky.
Can you walk me back to when you actually got the part?
It did take a long time before I finally got the part of Helaena. They were using dummy sides from a scene of Arya’s from Game of Thrones. I did it and thought it was a long shot because every actor my age in the world was probably taping for that part. I knew it was good to be seen by the casting director, Kate Rhodes James. I didn't hear anything for a very long seven months. In Budapest, there were whispers that some of the actors were getting auditions for it. I didn’t think it was going to come through for me. Eventually, I got a notice saying, they didn’t want me for that part, but to audition for the part of Helaena. When I came home for Christmas, I did the tape. It's so rare when you do a tape where you think, that's a bit of me and I really want to do this. Then I was back in Budapest and I got a text that said they wanted to meet on Zoom. So I met with the casting director and the two showrunners, and that just went by in a complete blur. After, I felt like an alien a few days (laughs). I kept having to put myself to sleep in order to not feel worried. One day I woke up from one of those naps and I had a text that said, you've got the part.
You get texted that information–they don't call you! At least a text can be printed and go in the museum archive. You can create some memorabilia!
That's true. I think either way it would've gone, it would have been just me blacking out.
Can you share more about your character, Helaena?
What's interesting for me about Helaena is that she's in this unique situation. She's in the royal family and married to her brother, which she’s done for the family. It is a personal sacrifice. She's uncomfortable with what's expected of her. She doesn't like wearing those clothes. She doesn't like standing up there in front of the people and doesn't like being a figurehead or being projected on. She's got her own stuff that makes her feel safe and she wants to be in her own world. So we leave her growing up in a level of discomfort. For this season, I would describe it as a reckoning of what she's willing to accept and how far is too far. It's about family dynamics, inherited trauma, and the quest for us to understand each other.
It must be pretty fun to film the show on that set. Are there any cool moments that stand out?
The sets by set designer Jim Clay are incredible. They have built a castle inside the studios. I can walk into my bedroom, look around my bedroom, walk out, walk downstairs, the grand hall, go into my mother's bedroom, go upstairs, and go to the study. In a way, it's like a lazy actor's dream because you just look at something and it's real.
My favorite moment of this year was when I got my first scenes that are properly in Helaena’s bedroom. She has this special interest in her insects and there are cabinets and cabinets filled with the most beautiful bugs and incredible things that had been designed to look like something that she would've sewn. She’s written notes all over her desk and dreams all over the wall along with these amazing drawings. I'm trying to think of the perfect way to describe it, but it was as imaginary as if somebody had created a child's imaginary world for them in real life.
What are you most proud of from your work on the series?
That's a really big question. I'm proud I made a choice about this character and have stayed true to her. I try to make choices that are through the lens of specificity of this person. It's not even so much something to be proud of, but it's more like a gift that I'm in this position because you don't always get to play someone so particular. It's really exciting to get to make all of those choices for yourself.
Since you are the start of your career, are you somebody who has a vision board of what you'd like to achieve in the future?
I go to the theater twice a week, so I almost see that as manifesting, just in that I put so much thought and energy into appreciating plays that I like. I'm letting it rub off on me. I'm also someone, who every time I watch a film, see a performance, or go and see a play I'm interested in, I log it somewhere. It’s a nice notch on the climbing ladder and helps in developing a strong sense of taste.
Growing up, was there something that left an impression on you that inspired you to pursue acting?
I was a kid who watched a lot of TV and films. I was really into Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I also did a huge amount of Shakespeare because nearby there was a small children's company that put on plays in the summer. I also had a crush on James Dean in films like East of Eden, but I also wanted to be Buffy. When you are in a small school and you're objectively the keenest person in the class, you get to play cool characters, parts that I would never play now in a million years. So I think of it all as influential.
It’s so interesting when someone has that fire from a young age and then they pursue it to the big leagues.
It's also about the positive energy of the people you have around you. I have had very supportive parents and teachers, so it didn't seem as much of an obstacle, but that's not the case for everyone.
Do you have any fun plans for the summer?
I'm going to the End of the Road festival—I went last year for the first time and it was such a beautiful festival. I think I am going to go to Naples but I also hope I'm going to be doing a job. As an actor, you want to make these plans, but you also think, I could just stay home and wait by the phone instead and not do anything. But it's important to make the plans, but I kind of hope that something gets in the way.