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Matt Smith (House of the Dragon, The Crown) has voiced strong opinions against the use of trigger warnings in entertainment. A trigger warning is used to inform people that what they are about to consume–movies, TV shows, music, books, classes, etc.–may contain content that could prompt a distressing response. In an interview with The Times of London, Smith criticized the practice, arguing that it undermines the integrity of storytelling by pre-emptively warning audiences about potentially upsetting content.
“Too much policing of stories and being afraid to bring them out because a climate is a certain way is a shame. I’m not sure I’m on board with trigger warnings,” Smith said. He expressed concern that such warnings could dilute the impact of art, noting, “It’s OK to feel uncomfortable or provoked while looking at a painting or watching a play, but I worry everything’s being dialed and dumbed down. We’re telling audiences they’re going to be scared before they’ve watched something.”
Smith, who recently starred in the British horror film Starve Acre, reflected on his own formative experiences watching films like Slither, Basic Instinct, and Friday the 13th at a young age. While he admitted that some of these experiences were intense, he joked that Friday the 13th “absolutely ruined me.” Nevertheless, he emphasized the importance of experiencing stories without prior warnings–and it’s worth remembering that since he’s from the UK, while those films were rated R stateside, the films he’s discussing were rated by the British Board of Film Classification. Friday the 13th, for instance, is Rated 15 for strong violence, bloody images, threat, and sex.
This isn’t the first time Smith has voiced his concerns. Earlier this year, via Deadline, he weighed in on the use of trigger warnings in Doctor Who, a series in which he starred from 2010 to 2014. “I always thought that was one of the great things of doing Doctor Who, that you scared children, in a controlled way, but you did scare them. Imagine you go to kids watching Doctor Who, ‘By the way, this might scare you.’ No, I’m not into it.”
Smith’s remarks contribute to a growing chorus of British actors questioning the necessity of trigger warnings in the arts. Recently, both Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes have expressed similar doubts, with Fiennes emphasizing to the BBC (via Deadline) that shock and surprise are what make theater “exciting.”
HBO recently renewed House of the Dragon for a third season. Additionally, showrunner Ryan Condal has revealed that House of the Dragon will likely come to an end after Season 4, rather than the initial five-year plan that was discussed for the series. The third season will likely premiere in 2026.
