POWER STRUGGLES

Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy struck gold when they landed the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen in the prequel to Game of Thrones

- DENNIS CAVERNELIS

SHE was just 10 years old when Game of Thrones first hit the screens in 2011, so it’s no surprise that she didn’t watch it then.

But it’s been 11 years and Milly Alcock is all grown up – and finding herself the star of the new series set 200 years before Daenerys Targaryen wowed the world with her dragons in Game of Thrones.

Milly (22) has since binged the eight seasons of the hit show and has given a stellar performance as the young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the sixth great­grandmother of Daenerys, in House of the Dragon.

The Australian actress plays Rhaenyra for the first few episodes before the series jumps forward in time and Emma D’Arcy takes over the role.

She and Emma weren’t allowed to meet, Milly says. “We wanted to have a meeting with [director Miguel Sapoch­ nik] and have a discussion about Rhae­nyra’s progression as a character,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “And Miguel didn’t want us to meet – which was really interesting!

“Miguel was like, ‘Just trust that you both have it’. I think he was aware we would be trying to mimic each other.”

MILLY, who has been acting since she was a teenager, auditioned several times for the part on House of the Dragon, via Zoom from her family home in Sydney, Australia.

She read lines for a myste­rious character identified only as YR for an “Unknown HBO Project” and she knew this was potentially the big­ gest opportunity to come her way because of HBO.