‘House of the Dragon’ breakout Abubakar Salim on why Alyn would be a ‘perfect’ heir

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who knows daddy issues often make good television.

For “House of the Dragon’s” Alyn of Hull, those issues arose in the breach — he’s been long estranged from his father, Corlys Velaryon — and have since hardened into an almost impenetrable barrier. Well, until Season 2 of the “Game of Thrones” prequel, in which circumstances suggest at least the possibility of change.

In this week’s Guest Spot, actor Abubakar Salim explains what makes Alyn tick, and what might finally thaw his relationship with his father. Plus, our editor catches up on buzzy legal drama “Presumed Innocent,” and two streaming recommendations for your weekend.

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At Comic-Con, Marvel hits the reset button with Robert Downey Jr., Fantastic Four: After a rocky few years, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige delivered an SDCC 2024 presentation heavy on nostalgia as the superhero franchise tries to reclaim its past glory.

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The cast of “The Decameron,” from left: Tony Hale, Karan Gill, Lou Gala, Douggie McMeekin, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Zosia Mamet, Tanya Reynolds and Amar Chadha-Patel.

(Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix)

“The Decameron” (Netflix)

In Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century short story collection, seven women and three men decamp from Florence, where there’s a lot of Black Death going around, to a villa outside town and while there tell tales to pass the time. In this Netflix series, the framing device becomes the main event, as a cast of distinct characters take up an invitation to spend as much time as they’d like in “the beautiful, not infected countryside,” little knowing that their putative host (and the bridegroom of Zosia Mamet’s aggravating and childish noblewoman) is dead — a fact that servants Tony Hale and Leila Farzad are determined to conceal. The set-up is something akin to an Agatha Christie mystery, with Hale as the butler, and a potted collection of upstairs and downstairs types, including Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Mamet’s pathologically loyal lady’s maid, Amar Chadha-Patel as a hot doctor keeping his rich patient (Douggie McMeekin) just sick enough and a delightful Tanya Reynolds as a servant stealing the identity of her mistress (Jessica Plummer). But the series plays out as a combination of farce, tragicomedy, emotional realism, violent slapstick and gorgeous historical tourism — you don’t see that every day. —Robert Lloyd

Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza.”

(Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Inc.)

“Licorice Pizza” (Criterion Channel)

L.A. indie-rock royalty Alana Haim flirts with Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour) in this freewheeling Nixon-era comedy directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, one that may be a touch underseen among his Valley movies. During the pandemic and lockdown of its 2021 release, the film found praise and some controversy. But in the rearview, “Licorice Pizza” glows with nostalgia: an unusually personal evocation of long-gone watering holes and improvised summer plans that its filmmaker was maybe a handful of years too young to experience firsthand. Benny Safdie burns a complex impression as real-life city council candidate Joel Wachs, campaigning from the closet; Bradley Cooper stomps his way to lovable arrogance as hair stylist and future producer Jon Peters. You can watch it exclusively on the Criterion Channel, which is also streaming four more of Anderson’s essentials, including “Magnolia” and “There Will Be Blood.” —Joshua Rothkopf

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Jake Gyllenhaal in “Presumed Innocent.”

(Apple TV+)

If you, like me, jones for the meat-and-potatoes drama of pretrial motions, conferences in judges’ chambers and lawyers who hate each other’s guts, “Presumed Innocent” (Apple TV+) is a veritable feast. Adapted from the novel by Scott Turow — which also inspired a 1990 feature with Harrison Ford — David E. Kelley’s eight-episode limited series stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Rusty Sabich, an arrogant Chicago prosecutor whose obsessive affair with colleague Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve) leads his rivals to finger him for the crime when she turns up dead.

But it’s not Gyllenhaal’s tortured husband and father, or even the twists and turns of the central mystery, that recommend the series. Instead, it’s “Presumed Innocent’s” careful attention to the cutthroat politics of daily life: the unscrupulous district attorney (OT Fagbenle) trying to make hay from the case, the slimy office rival (Peter Sarsgaard) salivating at the chance to take Rusty down, the begrudging ally (Bill Camp) trying to save his friend’s skin and the mistrustful wife (Elizabeth Marvel) trying to talk him out of it. Their graceless jockeying for position, punctuated by the foul mouth of a pugnacious medical examiner (James Hiroyuki Liao) and the world-weary sighs of a dubious judge (Noma Dumezweni), lends the legal potboiler the texture of reality, in which everyone has an angle — even if they don’t quite know it, or how to achieve it.

When it comes to Sabich’s home life, “Presumed Innocent” nearly falters, with a tiresome penchant for using memories and nightmares to shake up an already bumpy narrative, and leaving its crucial teen characters sorely underdeveloped. Luckily, Kelley and company had the wherewithal to cast Ruth Negga as Rusty’s wife, Barbara, whom the Irish actor invests with enough fury at the “pig” men who run the world — her husband included — to set the entire series alight every time she appears. I’m willing to forgive even the silliest plot twists when they’re the backdrop for the screen performance of the year. —Matt Brennan

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Abubakar Salim in “House of the Dragon” Season 2.

(HBO)

With Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” (HBO, Max) set to conclude on Sunday, leaving a raft of dead Targaryens, Velaryons, Hightowers and others in its wake, at least one wily character seems poised to see his star rise heading into Season 3: Alyn of Hull. As actor Abubakar Salim explains, the bastard son of Corlys Velaryon, who carefully shaves his head to hide his parentage, might just be the “perfect” heir because he’s uninterested in staking a claim to power — a reluctance that usually lands the players in George R. R. Martin’s fictional universe in positions of authority whether they like it or not. Salim stopped by Screen Gab recently to talk about Alyn’s arc this season, why he’s been bingeing “The Kardashians” and more. —Matt Brennan

What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?

You’re not going to believe this: “The Bear” [Hulu], for obvious reasons, and “The Kardashians” [Hulu]. Give me a minute. “The Bear” is incredible TV. The writing, performances and execution of production are astounding. Every episode, every scene delivers. Thirty minutes of fantastic storytelling, “The Bear” is such an inspiring watch: So much is packed in, it goes to show you don’t need much in order to deliver brilliant, quality entertainment.

Now, “The Kardashians.” I don’t know what it is, but there is something weirdly fascinating about watching a family who, for their whole lives it feels, have had a camera in their face, and how they have evolved over time with this as their “normal.” It’s this delicate balance of reality and drama and it’s my go-to to switch off from the reality of the world, but also ground me in what is deemed as “reality” television. I grew up on anime and cartoons, and then went through a period of not watching anything. So “The Kardashians” is a trip for me. I always retreated to my video games for a sense of peace... but as always with life, once you make something you enjoy part of work, playing games begins to feel like working. So I now retreat to “The Kardashians.” And it fascinates me.

What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the film or TV show you return to again and again?

“The Dark Knight” [Max]. That film still resonates with me. It captured the epic nature of a superhero/antihero and made it feel like it was possible/real. Expertly filmed with the performances to match. The soundtrack also has a special place in my heart.

Late in Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” we learn — or have our suspicions confirmed — that Alyn is Corlys’ illegitimate son, along with brother Addam. What was your reaction to finding that out when you were reading the scripts? How did it change your understanding of the character’s actions?

For me, it gave a valid reason to the actions of my character throughout the show. The distancing and wanting to keep things incredibly short and professional. Shaving his hair off almost became ritualistic, a reclaiming of the identity he has forged for himself. I think it was brilliant to have Alyn older in the live-action series than in the books because the Alyn we meet in the show carries the scars of a young man whose father abandoned him. And it is still incredibly raw.

Corlys has become increasingly isolated as his closest intimates, especially Rhaenys, have died, but so far Alyn seems reluctant to position himself as an advisor or heir. What do you think would need to happen to change Alyn’s mind?

I don’t think anything material will change Alyn’s mind — riches, titles, whatever. He doesn’t want to be an advisor or especially an heir, which is probably why he might be perfect for it. It’s a big theme that’s explored in George R.R. Martin’s titles, and it always makes the most sense. My opinion on it all is that Alyn’s identity and being is completely shaped by him not wanting to have anything to directly relate him to Corlys. So in order for there to be a change, there would need to be an event so cataclysmic to his psyche that it would push him to have to re-identify himself.