Sharako Lohar came at the perfect time for Abigail Thorn. The transgender YouTuber had been trying to land a proper acting gig for years but quickly realized Hollywood wasn’t looking for someone who looked like her.

“I was in this real despair before I auditioned for House of the Dragon,” Thorn tells Inverse. “I didn’t transition at 13. I’m 6-foot-1. I’m big. I like working out. I got my start doing Shakespeare and sword fighting, not runway modeling, and that’s totally fine. But I was wondering what I was going to do.”

Inverse spoke to Thorn about the historic nature of Sharako’s debut, her undeniable chemistry with Tyland Lannister, and how Blackbeard inspired her costume design.

Joe Pantoliano is an unstoppable force. Whether he’s chewing the scenery as a movie villain in The Matrix, playing the straight man opposite comedy legends in the Bad Boys movies, or elevating an otherwise forgettable piece of dialogue, nobody does it better (or seemingly more often) than Joey Pants.

That reputation even earned him a special segment on The Ringer’s popular podcast The Rewatchables, where Bill Simmons and his co-hosts dole out a Joey Pants “That Guy” Award for the best recognizable character actor to appear in each film they revisit. For Pantoliano, who says his son told him about the award but didn’t explain what it meant, he sees it as validation of a long, successful career.

“I’m happy to still be working,” Pantoliano tells Inverse, “so I take that as a total compliment.”