Welcome to Milly Alcock Fan, the latest online resource dedicated to the talented actress Milly Alcock. Milly has been in films like "The School" and the short films "The Familiars" and "Furlough". She has also been in TV Shows like "Pine Gap", "Reckoning", "Upright", "The Gloaming" and "House of the Dragon". This site is online to show our support to the actress Milly Alcock, as well as giving her fans a chance to get the latest news and images.

Harper’s Bazaar Australia

Mad about Milly

Milly Alcock thought her starring role in Tim Minchin’s comedy hit ‘Upright’ was her big break. Then, the producers of Game of Thrones called. As the dust settles on her career-making turn in ‘House of the Dragon‘, the 22-year-old Aussie is still adjusting to her new life as a megastar.

Words by GRACE O’NEILL; Photographed by BRYAN LISTON; Styled by CATHY KASTERINE

SOMETIMES those huge, life-altering moments arrive with a bang — big, bright and brilliant. But more often than not they’re quiet and understated, and only in retrospect can you appreciate just how significant they were. For Milly Alcock, the biggest moment of her career fell in the latter camp. “I was at my friend’s house cooking dinner when I got the call,” she says. “I went outside and silently screamed, then came back inside and asked my friend if he had a bottle of wine. And we drank wine. And that was about it.” It was the call a thousand actors would have killed for: the lead role in House of the Dragon, HBO’s ludicrously anticipated Game of Thrones prequel. The 10-episode series had a budget of about $US200 million and would see Alcock star alongside British acting heavyweights Rhys Ifans, Paddy Considine and The Crown’s Matt Smith. The 22-year-old Sydney-born Alcock not only held her own as the young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (think of her as Khaleesi, half a millennia beforehand), she shimmered off the screen like a white-haired supernova.

I imagine the casting process for a project of that scale required a marathon-like endurance — flights across the world, several terrifying auditions. Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong. “It was actually the quickest audition process I’ve ever done to book a job,” Alcock says. We’re speaking in London, where she is now based, in an airy studio in the city’s trendy East. As we break for lunch, the petite starlet slips out of new-season Celine, Miu Miu and Chanel, and into a quintessentially Aussie-in-London look: big men’s shirt over a tee over a long-sleeved thermal (“Whatever I wear here it’s never warm enough,” Alcock says with a laugh). As it turns out, the process of landing one of the most coveted roles on TV was shockingly low-key. This was in part because casting happened in 2020, when in-person auditions weren’t possible. Alcock sent in two self-tapes and got the call a few weeks later. No follow-up interviews, no terrifying interrogations with executives, just a straight up “Yes”. “I think that’s what made the whole process really frightening, because in some ways I felt like I hadn’t earned it,” she adds.

The news was so casual that, at first, it hardly affected Alcock’s day-to-day life. Sworn to secrecy, she kept her job working part-time at a cafe in Sydney’s Marrickville until shooting began. “I was literally washing dishes every day,” she says, laughing. “Nobody knew!” Shooting was scheduled for early 2021 and Alcock, then only 20, moved to London during the height of pandemic lockdowns. As a fellow Australian who relocated to the British capital during the pandemic, I can attest that 2020 was a truly awful time to be living in the city. Alcock nods in recognition, although her anxieties were slightly different to mine. “I didn’t know anyone, and I’d never lived out of home for that long, and I was about to film what was potentially the biggest TV show ever. So yeah, it was a headfuck.”

Based on George R. R. Martin’s 2018 book, Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is a decades-spanning saga centred on the Targaryen dynasty, 500 years before Game of Thrones is set. Rhaenyra is the feisty-but-brilliant teenage daughter of King Viserys I (Considine) who, having no living sons, must decide whether to abandon tradition and name his daughter as heir. Add to the mix a power-hungry uncle (Smith, with whom Rhaenyra has a suitably Thrones-style brooding sexual tension), a Machiavellian advisor with the ear of the king (Ifans), and a best-friend-turned-frenemy (played first by Emily Carey and then by Olivia Cooke), and you have the makings for a seasons-spanning spectacle of epic proportions.

Preparation for the role was gruelling. Alcock spent hours a day learning to ride horseback (“I’m a horse girlie now,” she jokes) and worked with multiple dialect coaches to master her High Valyrian, a Targaryen language invented by Martin. As the series’ name suggests, she also had to learn to ride dragons — albeit a mechanical creation in HBO’s green screened studio. Filming took months. “I put a lot of pressure on myself,” she admits. “It was this feeling of all your dreams having come true, but now you’ve actually got to do the thing. Which is really scary. Because if it doesn’t work there’s no-one else to blame but yourself.”

Alcock grew up in Petersham in Sydney’s inner west with her mum, dad and two brothers, in what she describes as a decidedly non-arty family. “The arts felt like something that was just mine, that I had ownership over,” she says. “I really held onto that as a sense of independence and something I could call my own, I was very protective about it.” Acting, as she puts it, was the only thing she was good at. So good, in fact, that she was accepted into the prestigious Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, whose alumni includes Yael Stone and Odessa Young. “I arrived and all my classmates already had agents,” Alcock recalls. “So I started googling agencies and calling them saying, ‘Hi, can you hire me?’ Eventually one did.” She caveats: “I think I was literally about 13 at the time.”

Alcock began taking on small jobs: a Cadbury ad here, a stint on Australia’s Disney Channel there. Her first credited role was in the 2017 web series High Life. From there she nabbed parts in 2018’s Showcase drama Fighting Season and the Netflix series Pine Gap. It was around this time that she was cast by Phoebe Tonkin in the actor’s directorial debut, a short film called Furlough. “Milly and I met in a coffee shop in Newtown and I was instantly captivated by her confidence and charm,” Tonkin says. “Directing for the first time was a very vulnerable experience, but Milly brought so much power and strength on screen that I ended up with an 18-minute short instead of the usual 15 minutes because I couldn’t bear to cut out any of her beautiful performance.”

Alcock’s first big break came in 2019, when she landed the lead alongside Tim Minchin in his Foxtel comedy series, Upright. Alcock plays Meg, a teen runaway who gets roped into helping a struggling musician (Minchin) transport an upright piano across 3000 kilometres of Australian outback. Taking on the role meant dropping out of high school, a decision that was to Alcock “kind of a no brainer”. She expected to be met with resistance from her teachers or parents, but both were nonplussed. “I told my mum and she just said, ‘Sure,’” she recalls with a shrug. And her school could hardly ask her to turn down an opportunity to work with one of Australia’s greatest creative talents. “Working with Tim gave me a very clear understanding that when you’re on set, you’re there to do a job,” Alcock says with a clear reverence for her old boss. “You need to serve the story and speak up when you have an idea, don’t be scared. I think he taught me to trust myself in a way that I’ve taken into every role since.”

Alcock wrapped House of the Dragon in late 2021 and flew straight back to Australia to start filming Upright’s second season. It gave her less time to brood on what might be coming, but the feeling that her life was about to change never really went away. “It felt like I was sitting on a time bomb,” she says. “You’re constantly waiting for the ball to drop.” When it eventually did drop this past August, it dropped hard. The first five episodes of House of the Dragon boasted 29 million viewers apiece, which marked the largest audience for a television series debut in American cable history. Alcock’s face was plastered across train stations and billboards around the world, including her local Tube station. She started being recognised on the street, and her Instagram following jumped from a few thousand to 1.5 million in a matter of weeks.

Then there was the gruelling global press tour, followed quickly by the awards season circuit. The series picked up nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globes. Emma D’Arcy (of “negroni sbagliato” fame), who (*minor spoiler) plays Rhaenyra a decade on, was nominated for Best Television Actress in a Drama Series at the latter. “It’s been an interesting experience in terms of how people treat you,” Alcock says. “There was this feeling of All eyes on me for a moment. I was meeting people I admired at events and having people compliment me on my work. But at the same time, I tried to disassociate myself from it. I never searched reviews or read or watched my interviews back, because I think that would be very bad for my mental health.”

In this way, Alcock is the archetype of a new kind of celebrity. Yes, her life changed overnight. But she still lives in a share house with a group of creative friends (including the model and photographer Anaïs Gallagher). She still freaks out when she’s in-between jobs (she’s waiting to start filming a new, as yet unannounced project, in September). She still wonders if she should go back to part time work at a cafe. In the months before House of the Dragon came out she contemplated dropping her resume into Violet, the much-loved Dalston bakery, to pick up a part-time job before starting the press circuit.

And yet to call Alcock normal or unaffected would feel trite. It’s better to think of her as a person with an unusually healthy (or, perhaps, uniquely gen Z) sense of perspective. Sure, getting cast in a critically acclaimed show loved by millions of people is great — but you’re still the same person on the other side of it. “The goal for me with acting has never been to be famous, or to be a movie star,” Alcock says. “I think that’s emotionally taxing. It’s not what I strive for at all.” Still, there’s no denying this is where she currently finds herself. How does she think about the future? “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great problem to have,” she says. “I’ve been looking at other people’s careers that I admire, and the way they’ve handled it. And I’m thinking about who I want to be in that public eye space, which is a space I don’t want to be in a lot.”

It strikes me, not for the first time, that Alcock is wise and sensitive well beyond her years. Whether she likes it or not, life in the public eye feels all but inevitable. But when our shoot wraps and Alcock disappears into the blissful anonymity of London during peak hour, I feel quietly assured that she’s better equipped than most to handle it.

Source: harpersbazaar.com.au

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Milly on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Australia

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Nylon Magazine

Milly Alcock On Stepping Into ‘House Of The Dragon’

The House Of The Dragon star on playing young Rhaenyra, dealing with an intense fandom and why she admires Paul Mescal’s career.

It’s one thing to take on a big role early on in one’s career. It’s another to step into the universe of one of the most massive fandoms on the planet, with some of the most opinionated viewers around. But that’s exactly what 22-year-old Australian actress Milly Alcock has done with House Of The Dragon — HBO’s Game of Thrones sequel, that’s technically a prequel to the most-watched series in the streamer’s history, based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin.

Alcock is the star of season one’s first half, playing the young Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, whose descendent, the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen, was famously played by Emilia Clarke on GOT. Donning the same ice-blonde hair as her on-screen kin, Alcock portrays Rhaenyra as a poised young queen whose teen years are spent fending off unwanted marriage proposals, navigating relationships with the power-hungry men around her and, in true GOT fashion, having inappropriate relations with her uncle.

As the series has aired, Alcock has experienced the full adoration and fury of the internet — something she says, frankly, “fuckin’ sucks.” The actress caught up with NYLON for a candid chat about her time on set, the irony of the fandom, and why she hopes her next role is nothing like House of the Dragon.

You were quite young when Game of Thrones first aired — how did you prep for this role?

I watched the original show when we were doing pre-production, because I was about eight or nine or something when it first showed up, so it wasn’t really appropriate. So I would cycle to the library every day and just study it, as if I would for a test or exam, to try and get a grasp of what was at stake, because Westeros isn’t Earth. So I spent a lot of time trying to contextualize what everything meant and how I could translate that to us, where we live. And I’m not going to lie; I didn’t read the whole book. I mean, it’s a very big book. But I did read the Heir For A Day section, which is most pivotal to me when I play Rhaenyra.

What was it like to go on a set that had such a large budget and included so many special effects?

It was incredibly new and exciting and daunting, because I’ve only ever done Australian TV, so the budgets are immensely different; they’re not in the same league. It was just quite a shock, [to see] that was a way that you could make film and television. I didn’t fully understand how big of a scale something like that could be until I stepped on set, and I was mortified. You quickly adapt and it all becomes quite normal. But the first two, three months I just thought I was going to get fired constantly. It was incredibly intimidating.

Was there anyone who kind of took you under their wing on set?

It was a very supportive set, especially the cast members. The older cast members who were established, like Rhys [Ifans] and Matt [Smith] and Paddy [Considine] and Fab[ien Frankel], and Eve Best, they kind of all saw that we were young and that this was a completely new environment. They quickly made sure that we felt comfortable and kind of educated us on when to speak up and how to treat crew. They were phenomenal role models in just the way to behave on set and learning when to speak up and also when to sit back and go, “Oh no, I can’t get angry that this is taking so long to turn over because X-Y-Z- things need to happen.” Just not making it all about you essentially, because you realize that we’re all there to make one beautiful piece of art, so why would we kind of torture ourselves with egos and all that.

What’s it been like, especially now that the show is airing, to be a lead on a series that is not only so popular but has such an engaged fan base with so much online discourse?

It’s like a part-time job, really. I don’t know. I’m trying to not look at it and trying not to engage with it because it doesn’t benefit me. It just makes me incredibly anxious. Me seeing my face constantly is straining. No one should have to do that. It fuckin’ sucks, man. I don’t know how the socialites of the world can do that. It’s kind of driving me off the wall. It’s an incredibly difficult space to navigate. There’s very few people who’ve had an experience like how I’ve had, and finding them is really difficult. I don’t really know anyone whose kind of gone through what I’m going through. All of my friends are very normal and go to uni and just do very basic things, and my family’s not in the arts whatsoever, so it’s strange. It feels like someone’s opened Pandora’s box and you’re kind of just looking through the looking glass. It’s a bit Alice in Wonderland-y. It’s fucking weird.

I can only imagine. There’s been a lot of discussion too, since the beginning of Thrones and now House of the Dragon, about the way women are treated and depicted. It’s interesting that this season has actually this female friendship at the center of it — the one between Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower. How have you approached playing a character who is also a very young woman whose sort of thrust into the spotlight?

I think it was all kind of written on the page, and Emily [Carey] and I understood very quickly what this relationship meant, and that we really needed to display their unconditional love for each other when we see them. Especially in the first couple of episodes — so that when the demise of that friendship inevitably happens, the audience cares. Because I think the irony that I’ve kind of found over the show coming out, is that House of the Dragon highlights yes, the patriarchy, yes, misogyny, but also the internalized misogyny that these two women are forced to face. They’re forced to be put at odds with one another by the choices by men.

But what I found quite hilarious is that the fan base is also putting the actors, the young Alicent and the young Rhaenyra at odds with each other, and choosing who’s better, also by decision of mostly men. So I think that it’s really just fucking ironic.

It’s playing out in real time.

Exactly.

What’s next for you after this?

I hope I get employed again. I do. I’ve got nothing going on at the moment. I’m in the first phase of panic. It’s like the pre-phase of panic. Of “I’m never going to work, it’s never going to happen again,” as all freelancers know that feeling. I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow. I really don’t. So hopefully something fun and exciting comes along, but I just really want to do something completely different to House of the Dragon. Ultimately, I don’t want to go into another big franchise or a big series. I want to do something very intimate and personal and kind of like… Who’s the guy in Normal People?

Paul Mescal?

Yes. I want to do a move that he made. I want a long career. I want to be clever about it.

Source: Nylon.com

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ODDA Magazine cover

Milly is on the cover of the current issue of ODDA Magazine. Click on the photo below to see it full size:

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Behind the Blinds interview

ALL EYES ON YOU

For the past three weeks, Milly Alcock has been winning over the audiences with her nuanced portrayal of young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon – the HBO show which last month made headlines for its record-breaking premiere. For the Australian actress – who prior to getting the part has never seen Game of Thrones, the series that HotD is a prequel to – the biggest surprise was just how straightforward the extravagant show’s arc is. “It’s a story of one family, and how that family has a massive fight which affects the whole kingdom,” says Alcock. “And because they’re in charge, everyone else around them suffers and has an opinion on their actions.” Prior to the show’s big launch, we spoke to Milly about the fascinating nature of Rhaenyra, the euphoria of riding a horse, and wanting to play a valley girl.

House of the Dragon is one of the biggest shows of the year! How did you become a part of this project?

It was a really fast auditioning process. I did a self-tape back in Sydney and the sample scene they gave me was actually from Game of Thrones – I hadn’t seen the show at that point, so I hadn’t actually realized [what I might be auditioning for]. Then, two weeks later, I got a callback, followed by a phone call saying that I got the part two weeks after that. It was just so extremely quick that I didn’t feel like I actually landed the role!

What would you say are the main differences in the storytelling tone between House of the Dragonand Game of Thrones?

I would say that our show is the modern revamp of Game of Thrones – the series has definitely addressed the critiques and didn’t make the same mistakes that the original got scrutinized for, which I think is going to make it more appealing to a wider audience. House of the Dragon explores a broader range of perspectives in terms of themes like sexuality, gender, and race, so it allows everybody to be a part of that world.

Having not seen the original show prior to getting the part, what surprised you the most about this universe?

The fact that despite being very extravagant in its presentation, it’s very simplistic in its themes – it’s a story of one family, and how that family has a massive fight which affects the whole kingdom. And because they’re in charge, everyone else around them suffers and has an opinion on their actions.

In the series, you play Rhaenyra Targaryen – what do you find most fascinating about her as a person?

She is a princess, but she fundamentally doesn’t want to adhere to that role and what she’s expected to do. That’s why she acts out in a lot of ways, and because of her position of privilege, she can get away with a lot more stuff. She comes across as quite arrogant – we meet her when she’s in her early teens, so she’s at that point where she expects the world to owe her something and hasn’t grasped the reality that everybody suffers and that she’s not the only person who’s ever experienced these feelings. She holds a lot of anger in her and we see her work through that anger, but quite publicly, because of her position. But I do really adore her outspokenness and emotional intelligence about people close to her. She’s a lot smarter than she’s made out to be.

What was the wildest skill you got to learn for this role?

I learned how to ride a horse! I’m very grateful that I got to learn that skill – there’s something really fun about horse riding and the freedom that it gives you. Also, I think it helped me tap into Rhaenyra a bit more and tap into her using her dragon – I’m assuming that the feeling of euphoria while riding a horse would be a bit similar to the feeling of riding a dragon, just a thousand times less strong because the dragon would be going so fucking fast! [laughs]

What amazed you the most about the level of production on a series like this?

The craft and attention to detail were insane! For example, with the costumes, everything was handmade and hand-embroidered, so it felt like you were wearing art. Also, just the sheer volume of people that it took to make that job. When you’re working with a 400-person crew every day, it can be quite overwhelming – you can’t help but have the feeling that you’re a part of something that’s larger than you and larger than something you’ll ever be. So there was a bit of pressure within that feeling of ‘all eyes are on you’, but I learned to understand that I had so many people around me whose job was to make sure that I came across the best way that I could in my performance. All of the crew was so incredible – they were so kind and so human, which didn’t feel like it should go together with how big and over-the-top the production was.

Having that incredible experience, what sort of challenges and roles are you hoping to explore now?

I really want to do a play. I think it would be such a great challenge in terms of how you rehearse and the text that you are given, as well as vocally and movement-wise. There’s just something that seems so exciting about that moment of performance living in the space of two hours and being shared exclusively with the audience that’s right in front of you. Also, I would love to do some independent films. I want to play a valley girl…

An A24 valley girl?

Yes! I just want to have fun.

Source: behindtheblinds.be

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Marie Claire Australia interview

Everything You Need To Know About ‘House Of The Dragon’ Star Milly Alcock
The Aussie actor enters the dragon’s den.

After a near flawless run, fantasy series Game of Thrones ended with a whimper. Thankfully, the new prequel, House of the Dragon shows serious promise – as does its Aussie star Milly Alcock.

Violence? Check. Sex scenes? Check. A brutal and shocking death in episode one? Check, check, check. House of the Dragon wastes no time reminding viewers why the world couldn’t stop talking about Game of Thrones until its final season three years ago.

The prequel is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen (as in Daenerys Targaryen). While whispers of returning cast members have yet to be confirmed, there are plenty of fresh faces, including 22-year-old Alcock.

“I was at a friend’s house when I found out I got the part. I couldn’t tell anyone, so I just silently screamed, hung up the phone and looked my friend in the eye and asked “do you have any wine?,” recalls Alcock, who previously starred alongside Tim Minchnin’s Upright and A Place to Call Home.

Alcock will take the iron throne as a young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. So what do viewers need to know about the woman beneath the crown? “That I’ve been picked up and dropped into the lion’s den and I don’t know what I’m doing,” Alcock says.

If you missed the original series (how?!), you’re in luck. Alcock explains, “it’s a completely new story so it opens up a big audience, because everybody can watch it with fresh eyes. I hadn’t actually watched the original series until we started shooting. I can see why there’s such a large fan base around it, it’s brilliant.”

While the new series does take a new stylistic and thematic direction with its exploration of characters and relationships, long-time fans can expect the same meticulous detail that stays true to the original series.

“The attention to detail is insane,” Alcock says. “Our costume designer Jany [Temime] did an incredible job at including dragon detailing in my costume such as scaling. Jenny was very smart at thinking ‘how am I going to include this family’s sigil and plant that seed of ‘we are House Targaryen’. The clothing that we wear is also very restrictive, which actually helps get you into the character and the restricted within the world that she lives in. Although, I will admit with all the live fire and heavy costumes, it got really hot during filming, and I’m a sweater so I often had to go and stand in front of the fans with my arms up.”

“I can see parallels in the dynamics of the relationships. I recognise the relationship between mother and daughter with my own mother, and between two young women and how that friendship deteriorates. I can definitely relate,” says Alcock. “That said, I’ve never ridden a dragon!”

Despite filming taking place miles from home, the 22-year-old from Sydney was still eager to bring a slice of home to the set. “We went to the seaside in Cornwall [in England] before rehearsal, and I decided I wanted to go for a swim. Everyone said, ‘you don’t have time,’ but I did it anyway. I felt so Australian. It was 15 degrees in the water and I was just in my undies, because I didn’t have any swimmers. It reminded me of home.”

After ruling a kingdom and securing herself a place on the iron throne, you’d forgive the young star for wanting to settle into an early retirement. Instead, Alcock has a few projects she’d like to get under her belt.

“I really want to play a boxer or a musician. I’m jealous of musicians and the power that they have onstage and their ability to captivate an audience with their voice. I’d also love to do a play.”

Source: marieclaire.com.au

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Who What Wear interview

Get Ready for Milly Alcock’s Reign

In the George R.R. Martin novel A Storm of Swords—the third installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series that brought us the 59-time Emmy Award–winning series Game of Thrones—it is said that when a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin. One side brings greatness, and one side brings madness. We know how things ended for Daenerys Targaryen, but what about Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen before her? “Greatness,” Milly Alcock responds with a cheeky smile during our Zoom call. It’s hard to say whether the actress is leading me astray with this answer. After all, HBO Max has been keeping much of its new series House of the Dragon tightly under wraps. But either way, she has me on the edge of my seat.

Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon centers on a particularly turbulent period of the House Targaryen’s reign. Vying for their rightful place on the iron throne are Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the would-be first queen regnant of Westeros, and her ruthless uncle, Prince Daemon Targaryen. It’s Succession, but with dragons and bloody battles. The show opens up with our first look at young Rhaenyra, a skilled dragon rider who is more interested in her father’s political affairs than getting married and bearing children. She is regal yet fierce. Alcock, who is sporting a dirty-blonde chop and thick brunette brows on the day of our call, is almost unrecognizable as the platinum-haired princess. It’s the Australian native’s U.S. debut and a striking one at that. Having only appeared in Australian television, the 22-year-old is landing in Hollywood in a big way, holding her own opposite the likes of Matt Smith in one of the summer’s most anticipated shows.

So on the precipice of her breakout moment, I caught up with Alcock to talk about her journey from “dish bitch” to small-screen star, the acting master class that was working on House of the Dragon, and that stunning L.A. premiere look.

The House of the Dragon series was announced in 2019, and you were cast the next summer. Can you take me back to when you first heard about the project and tell me about the audition process?

Well, I hadn’t auditioned in like a year because of COVID and everything. I was living at home in my family attic, and me and my friends at the time, to get through COVID, were throwing live music gigs and live art-gallery events. We would ticket them and would get all of our friends who are painters and artists [to participate]. We would curate and display the work and get the space ready, and then we’d get our friends who are musicians to play, and we’d sell booze and everything in different warehouses. I used to work at the warehouse at this restaurant, and I was washing dishes there. I was a dish bitch at the time. So that was my life. It was very different.

And then I got sent an audition for an unknown HBO project. I went to shoot it with a friend of mine, and he was like, “This scene is from Game of Thrones,” and I was like, “I haven’t seen Game of Thrones.” Well, I hadn’t at that time. I have now. He was like, “This is from Game of Thrones. This is the scene with Arya Stark. This is the needle scene.” So I watched it and was like, “Okay, cool” and sent the tape through and very quickly got a callback. I remember my agent, who was recording me for my callback. After we shot it, he looked me dead in the eye and said, “I feel like I’m just watching history being made.” And I was like, “Don’t say that!” It was just very surreal and crazy and exciting.

Let’s talk about Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Once you were able to dive into the actual script and that character a bit more, what really appealed to you about her?

I really liked her resilience and her sense of self. She’s very assured in who she is and what she stands for. And I really adore her morals.

What was your reaction to seeing the series poster with you as Rhaenyra standing in front of the dragon for the first time?

I remember thinking, “Oh my god, I look so tired” because it was an actual still from on set. We didn’t do a separate shoot for it. And I remember Miguel showed it to me privately, and I just looked at him and was like, “What? Where is everyone else?” And he was like, “It’s you.” And I was like, “Why? Why is it just me?” And he was like, “Because you are Rhaenyra!” But I haven’t seen any real-life [billboards]. People have been sending me billboards and stuff, but I haven’t seen any, and I really want to.

This series is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, but there are sure to be some comparisons of Princess Rhaenyra to Queen Daenerys Targaryen. In what ways would you say the two are similar? And how are they different?

Their position. The way that they position themselves and navigate themselves throughout the world is very similar. But they are different fundamentally because of how they were brought up. Daenerys wasn’t brought up with the assumption of power and the perception of privilege and royalty, whereas Rhaenyra was, so that’s how they differ.

You and Emma D’Arcy both play Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen at different points in her life. Did the two of you work together on any specific mannerisms that are unique to Rhaenyra?

There was no process. We didn’t do that at all, which was really scary for me and Emily [Carey, who plays the younger version of Alicent Hightower]. I asked, “So when am I going to meet Emma?” And Miguel was like, “Ah,” and I was like, “This would have happened. If you wanted it to happen, it would have happened.” I just put my faith and trust in Miguel’s hands that he had chosen the right actor to play the part, and I think Emma’s done a fantastic job. I mean, I haven’t seen any of their work or their episodes. I haven’t even read them. I wasn’t allowed to read them, so I’m excited to see how they make Rhaenyra their own.

What about your own process in terms of getting into the mindset of Rhaenyra and building out this character?

It was a lot of different things. I always make a playlist when I’m studying or researching any character, so I listened to a lot of classical music. I read the books. … Well, I read the bit I’m in. I didn’t read the whole book because it’s a big book. And then obviously, I watched the show. I made spreadsheets and graphs trying to break down what everything meant within the world and how I could contextualize it within the world that we live in. Then, lots of pacing around and talking to myself in my bedroom and, ultimately, trying not to butcher the accent because I’m not British. But as soon as you step onto the set, you are literally in the world, and the costumes change your physicality immensely, and it’s like, “There she is,” especially the wig as well.

How was that transformation for you, working with the glam teams and wardrobe?

It was really exciting. It felt like I didn’t have to act. I just got to be in the space and be truthful within the scene, and it would all come together and contextualize itself within the world. But the wigs, the process of getting the wig made, I had two fittings. They wrap your head in cellophane. But as soon as I put that wig on for the first time, I was like, “Ah, there she is.” And I had many, many fittings with Jany, who is our lovely costume designer, and she is so meticulous and careful. Yeah, she is a pro.

Do you have a favorite look from this season?

It’s the first thing we see her in. The first scene, the first episode. You see her get off that dragon, and when I think of her, that’s the outfit. I think it encompasses the way she wishes she could behave with Westeros as opposed to the other gowns. They are beautiful, though.

In regards to her hair, will we see some intricate braids on Rhaenyra as we did with Daenerys?

Rhaenyra isn’t really into the way she presents herself in that sense. And I think it’s her inherent rebellion to who she is expected to be and how she’s expected to behave. So she’s quite simplistic with her hair—to say, “I’m not going to play into your game. Dolling me up and being someone you can balk at, I don’t want to be a part of it.”

What were you most excited to see come to life on-screen while watching the first episode?

Honestly, everybody’s acting. I cannot stop gushing about this cast. I have fallen in love with all of them. They are all such lovely people and so talented and such great mentors for me—not only for how to be a better actor [and] how to perform better but also how to behave on set and the etiquette and how to treat people and knowing when to step up and when to be quiet and just being respectful of everybody’s work. It’s like school camp. You spend so much time with all of these people. We spent a year shooting this show with all of these people, and you get to share that with everyone.

Speaking of the incredible performances, I want to talk about working with Matt Smith, who plays your on-screen uncle, Daemon Targaryen. He causes trouble for the throne, but you can see Rhaenyra has a soft spot for him in her younger years.

Very early on in the rehearsal process, I remember me and Matt sat down with Miguel, and we wanted to grasp what their relationship was like prior to this. I think they see a likeness within each other. They recognize each other’s perspectives on the crown and on the world itself, and they both have a similar attitude toward it. But … who they are—who they are fundamentally as people but also how they are perceived by the world around them—dictates the way they can navigate throughout that. So when they are put in the same world, we can see a different side of Daemon and a different side of Rhaenyra because they have a mutual understanding of what it means to be a royal, and they can strip back all of the formalities of it.

There’s also the interesting dynamic between Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower, who was her closest friend and confidant as a young girl but later ends up getting in her way of the throne. Can you tell me about working with Emily Carey and building that foundation for those paths to eventually diverge?

I adore Em, and I feel very protective of her and like her big sister. So there wasn’t a lot to perform because we created that bond within itself. Because of the nature of how we shot the show, I was with Emily a lot of the time and then with a lot of the older actors. So we were the only two young women on set going through this major shift and change—not only in our professional lives but within our personal lives. Emily was 18 at the time that we shot this, and I cannot imagine. I was 20, so I was only two years older, but 18 to 20, you are a different person at that point. So I felt an obligation to make sure she was okay. The scenes where we weren’t the best of friends were difficult because I don’t like being angry at her in real life, and I didn’t want to pretend.

The GOT fan base is huge. Has anything surprised you in the process of working on this project?

It’s all been a surprise because it’s all a completely new experience for me. I’ve only ever done Australian television, which is so different to anything the House of the Dragon was in my experience making it. So this whole experience has been a completely new opportunity to learn everything, like everything. I didn’t have an expectation of what it was going to be like.

Can we talk about the dress you wore to the L.A. premiere? Stunning!

I work with a beautiful stylist called Holly White, and we tried on a bunch of different looks. We had three fittings, and I was trying on everything for press and all the premieres, and we couldn’t figure out what to wear for L.A. Nothing felt quite right. I was going to wear this other piece that was a shirt that was strappy and these trousers, and then it was our last fitting, and Holly was like, “I found the dress.” She pulled that dress out, and we both gasped. I put it on, and it fit like a glove. None of that was altered. And we were like, “Oh my god, this is phenomenal.” It’s also archive McQueen, which is to die for. So it was a last-minute heavenly surprise basically.

Now that you are breaking into the U.S. in a big way with House of the Dragon, what do you hope to achieve next in your career?

This is the exciting thing. Now, I have options. I’ve never had options before. I would love to do an independent film or a play. I really want to do a play. I’ve never done one before, so I think that would be a really exciting challenge and a completely different way of working because the play lives and dies in the moment it’s shown as opposed to being this huge machine. So I definitely want to do something a little more intimate.

Source: whowhatwear.co.uk

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The story of the House Targaryen set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones (2011).
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