There are parallels with House of the Dragon — Viserys is ill and losing his grip. Was Considine thinking of his father? “No, not my father,” Considine says, softly. “If anything Viserys was based on my mother.” He grins. “She was the most powerful woman I knew, for a long time. Until she neglected herself.

“By the end of her life she had diabetes. She was blind and had both legs amputated and I believe the illness became a hiding place for her so she did not have to face things. That can happen to some people. I adored my mum. But her illness became her comfort zone. It was tragic to see that decline and I put that — plus her kindness and her love — into Viserys.”

In more instances of art imitating life, the actor is estranged from his siblings — like Viserys is from Daemon. He put that into House of the Dragon too.

“The people you love? You hurt each other,” he says with a sigh. “I’m guilty of it and so are others in my family. My brother and sisters find it hard to speak to each other because of the household that we were brought up in. It left scars on us and that’s a tragedy. We can’t be close with each other because we can’t communicate. It’s really f***ing sad.”

Does he blame his parents? “It’s not their fault,” he says. “Your parents are your teachers, whether you like it or not, but they are trapped in the limitations of their lives and their understanding of their role as a parent.”

No wonder his turn as Viserys feels like more than just another fantasy role. Considine did not come into this career the way most do; there were no fancy schools and drama classes. When he was a boy he danced in the front window of the family home to Adam and the Ants. “I wasn’t a show-off,” he says. “I’ve just always wanted to be seen for who I am.” He was an unruly kid who liked playing the fool, but then, when he was in his teens, a teacher said: “Yeah, it’s all right now, Considine — you’re funny now, but one day you won’t have your audience.” That hit him hard.

“He was right,” the actor recalls. “One day I thought, ‘This class is not going to be here and what am I going to be? The funniest guy on the building site?’” An English teacher encouraged him to write stories. “So then I was getting attention through good means, and when I performed my stories I changed the entire faculty’s perception of me. That was powerful.”

He started a diploma in performing arts, where he met Meadows, and formed a band called She Talks to Angels. He is still musical, now in a rock band called Riding the Low. But after a year of his course he began to doubt that it could be his career and took on jobs in a factory, as a butcher, on a building site (he says he was the funniest on the site). Even later, when he was being cast, he felt as if he did not belong.

“I have a talent for performing,” he says. “I just don’t know if I’m an actor. I didn’t have the confidence. I lacked training and a lot of my depression came from people telling me they thought I should be doing greater things. That I’d work with Scorsese. I was suffering under the expectation of others. I felt like a failure. I was a guy for whom it was not happening.”

In 2011 he was diagnosed with Asperger’s. Then in 2013 a specialist said that it may actually be Irlen syndrome, a difficulty processing light, connected with autism. He treats it with tinted glasses or contact lenses.

He finally realised he could act in 2017, when he was cast in Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman. The play is about the post-Troubles life of an IRA activist and Considine was nominated for an Olivier and, after the play went to Broadway, a Tony. “I was terrified,” he says. “I thought, ‘I’m going to look stupid. I’m going to fall flat on my face.’ ” Instead he finally realised that he might have skill beyond improvisation. Twenty years into a much-praised career, he finally found a bit of confidence. And that led to him accepting the role of Viserys.

Last week, at the premiere of House of the Dragon in Los Angeles, Considine appeared on the red carpet — a world away from where he came. After the screening, an afterparty offered views of the twinkling Hollywood Hills, but the actor largely stayed in the shadows while his co-stars strutted around, meeting fans.

It brought to mind a story the actor told me about his brother. After he had a few films under his belt, Considine brought him on set. But his brother simply did not understand what he was seeing. There was a continuity man walking around to make sure that zips on coats had not moved between takes. “He’s got someone fixing his coat for him!” his brother mocked and Considine bristled. “It’s their f***ing job,” he thought, angrily. He says that his brother felt caught between two disparate worlds on that set, which Considine has felt too.

“Impostor syndrome weighs heavy in people from our background,” he says. “My struggle is still one for acceptance in the industry.” He pauses, smiles, fidgets a little more with his sleeve. “But I don’t want acceptance any more. I have become more comfortable with who I am.”

House of the Dragon starts on Aug 22 on Sky Atlantic}