'House of Dragon' director 'hated' Ser Criston Cole amid online trolling

Ser Criston Cole, played by Fabien Frankel, is fast becoming the most hated character ofHouse of the Dragon,and its director of season two's episode third and eighth, Geeta Vasant Patel, said she hated him too in season one.

During an interview withVariety, the filmmaker explained his character arc as the story is inching toward this season's finale.

"I hated him in the first season. I felt everything that we were supposed to feel. The challenge as a director for Episode 3 and Episode 8 was to actually humanize him," she said.

"With Criston Cole, I really wanted to insert point of view. A lot of times, the lack of liking someone comes from not being in their point of view. When we're in that space, we see everything happening at that table."

Adding, "That was one technique to start bringing his dimension out and start building to what's going to happen in the season finale, where I think you are going to really understand him."

Talking about Ser Criston's trajectory in the finale, Geeta said, "He's a very interesting character by the time you get to the season finale. There's a lot of things that we will relate to and we will be embarrassed to relate to."

"What he shares with us in Episode 8 is pretty awesome — we all have a bit of Criston Cole in us. That's what we're building. There's this vulnerability in Episode 3, and then it keeps building from there and by the time you get to Episode 8, he has this beautiful moment where he shares what he thinks about the world and what he thinksaboutwar."

Earlier,Fabien's on-screen character garnered such hate he had to limit comments on his Instagram.