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“House of the Dragon,” the highly-anticipated series that prequels “Game of Thrones,” has taken the world by storm.
In Episode Six, fans bid adieu to Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey’s Queen Alicent after a time jump in the plot and were introduced to an older Rhaenyra and Alicent, played by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively.
Speaking to the Independent, D’Arcy reflected on meeting audiences at a “difficult point,” midway through a show.
“They only get me when they lose Milly, so they meet me in a place of grief, of losing someone they just spent five hours with. I’m … I’m well aware of that,” they said.
“House of the Dragon” is D’Arcy’s most prominent role to date — and they’re already giving a performance worthy of a dragon’s roar. (D’Arcy is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns). Read more about D’Arcy’s life, relationship and career below.
Emma D’Arcy attends HBO Original Drama Series “House Of The Dragon” World Premiere at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.Jon Kopaloff / WireImage
Who is Emma D’Arcy?
D’Arcy, 30, didn’t initially plan on acting to be their career — they studied Fine Art at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art first. In their time there, they directed and starred in many stage productions.
Then, after college, D’Arcy landed some roles in a series of plays in London, including “The Crucible” and “Romeo and Juliet.” This eventually led them to BBC mini-series “Wanderlust” in 2018, in which they starred as the daughter of a therapist, played by Toni Collette.
Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra.HBO
They also had a role in the pageant film “Misbehaviour,” and another film called “Truth Seekers,” opposite Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and the Graham Swift novel adaptation “Mothering Sunday.”
Here’s how D’Arcy came to star in ‘House of the Dragon’
D’Arcy plays Rhaenyra Targaryen, daughter of King Viserys and heir to the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra has been compared to Daenerys Targaryen of “Game of Thrones,” sharing her fierce spirit and her belief she will be the first woman on the Iron Throne.
Funnily enough, when D’Arcy auditioned for “House of the Dragon,” they were under the impression that they were auditioning for a “Game of Thrones” “rip-off,” according to Entertainment Weekly, not an official spin-off.
They submitted what they called a “very speedy audition tape,” recorded on an iPhone propped up by a bag of chips. From there came multiple Zoom calls with co-creators of “House of the Dragon” Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik — and a breakthrough role.
In the sixth episode of “House of the Dragon,” fans are introduced to an older Rhaenyra.HBO
D’Arcy is starting conversations about gender in ‘House of the Dragon’
D’Arcy sees Rhaenyra as a character who is “pushing at the edges of womanhood,” per an interview with The Hollywood Reporter
“Rhaenyra has an ongoing battle with what it means to be a woman and is a fundamental outsider,” D’Arcy continued. “She’s terrified of getting locked into motherhood and is aware of how her position would be different if she were male. I’m a non-binary person. I’ve always found myself both pulled and repelled by masculine and feminine identity, and I think that plays out truthfully here.”
They’re in a relationship
When discussing auditioning for “House of the Dragon” with Entertainment Weekly, D’Arcy mentioned that their partner helped them prepare for auditions in a very specific way.
They had to improvise to give D’Arcy — who had a buzz cut at the time — the appearance of having long, Rhaenyra-esque hair, without having a wig on hand.
“All I had were some hair extensions left over from a job. No way of attaching them to me, no idea how to do that,” D’Arcy said.
They haven’t publicly identified their partner’s identity, however.
Follow them on Instagram
D’Arcy is also active on Instagram, where they often will post images of landscapes and artistic, editorial images of themselves — and of course, some “House of the Dragon” promo.
You can follow them at @emmaziadarcy.
Madeline Merinuk is a writer and newsletter editor at TODAY.com where she reports on pop culture, lifestyle and trending news. She’s a graduate of Hofstra University with a B.A. in Journalism.
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