Courtney Cash and Callum Hanney, who bring dragons to life on Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, host panel at Highland Realms Comic Con in Eden Court
ByRamsay Banks- ramsay.banks@hnmedia.co.uk
Published: 07:00, 24 October 2026
Two key figures in a worldwide hit fantasy show shared the secrets of their art at a comic con event in Inverness last weekend.
Puppeteers Courtney Cash and Callum Hanney of Team Blue help bring dragons to life on HBO series House of the Dragon, a prequel to the hugely popular Game of Thrones saga.
The pair hosted a panel at the Highland Realms Comic Con event at Eden Court, explaining how they act out the actions of the dragons with prop heads so the visual effects team can then animate them in the show, which has an audience of roughly 33 million viewers per episode.
Callum and Courtney act alongside the show’s live cast members to help them with the strange job of emotively responding to something they cannot otherwise see on set.
Callum previously worked with prosthetics on another TV show – The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power – and has now worked on two seasons of House of the Dragon.
Courtney got a call to be part of the show’s third season while working on another production.
As Team Blue they explained they are pleased that people have started to treat them as proper actors for their portrayal of the all-important dragons.
Courtney said: “In the behind the scenes video, the director Nina referenced us as ‘the actors that play the dragons’. It was probably the first time anyone had referred to us as the actors and we appreciated that.
“We do get into the character and we put a lot of effort into getting into the mindset of the dragon.”
Callum added: “We take over the personality of the dragon. You see the backstory and what it’s supposed to be like, so you adopt that.
“There’s a dragon called Sheepstealer who lives in the wild, so it’s definitely a bit more rogue.
“So with it, I do lots of rapid movements – snappy and rebellious – like you’d imagine a teenager.”
Courtney recently started her own agency, and floated the idea of appearing at comic con events to Callum.
Before long, Abigail Carey, co-founder of Highland Realms Comic Con, got in contact.
Courtney said: “Abigail is lovely. She’s been a pleasure to work work with – she’s very fast on email and is really passionate about having us here.
“It’s been great and so much busier than we expected. We weren’t sure how much interest we were going to get and were happily surprised.
“Our panel went really well. We didn’t expect so many questions from the audience.”
With Courtney hailing from Liverpool and Callum from Leicester, the duo had not spent much time in Scotland before Saturday’s event, let alone the Highlands.
Courtney said: “The only place in Scotland I’d been to before yesterday was Edinburgh. I’ve never traveled Scotland very much at all, but we went for a wander yesterday.
“I was absolutely loving it, but I’m a bit cold,” Callum added. “I’m not dressed for it!
“I went to Aviemore about a decade ago for snowboarding. I love Scotland.”
Team Blue are currently preparing for filming of the final season of House of the Dragon.
Both are as enthusiastic about the show as the most dedicated fan, and chomping at the bit to get going again.
Courtney said: “I’m incredibly excited. I’m feeling like I’ve got withdrawals from working on the show. It’s been over a year and I’m desperate to get back on it.”
“We were due to be back in July originally”, said Callum, “but it’s taken longer than expected. I’m eager to get going.”
But there were no spoilers from either.
“We don’t know how they’ll end it, or what they’ll do with the finale until we’re back on set again and get told what’s happening,” Callum said.
“I don’t like to play a role unless I want to play the role. If I’m working on something it’s because I want to. I’ve got that luxury at the moment, which is great.
“I want to be a dragon, so I’ll be a dragon.”
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