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Despite some believing that House Of The Dragon is doomed to fail, the majority of fans appear to be absolutely over the moon after seeing the premiere episode. It was also approved by "A Song Of Ice And Fire" author George R.R. Martin himself. Where Game Of Thrones eventually failed, perhaps House Of The Dragon will Succeed.
At any rate, co-showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik got the casting right. Particularly when it comes to the young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.
At the time of this writing, fans have yet to see Emma D'Arcy take over the role when the series jumps in time in the second half of Season One. For now, they are entranced with a young Milly Alcock... who actually isn't that young. In real life, she's in her early 20s and is about to take the world by storm.
Where You Can Watch House Of The Dragon
HBO Max subscribers will be able to watch House Of The Dragon for free on the streamer starting August 21, 2022. Basic HBO Max plans are available for $10/month or $100/year, and ad-free packages are available for $15/month or $150/year.
Who Is Milly Alcock?
Despite Milly Alcock telling The New York Post that she wasn't a Game Of Thrones fan prior to being cast in House Of The Dragon, there's no doubt that she's exceptionally grateful for it. After all, she was washing dishes in a restaurant and living in the attic at her mother's house when she was cast in the Game Of Thrones prequel series.
Milly was born in Sydney, Australia, and has a little bit of acting experience behind her. Although, she was basically a 'newbie' in the eyes of the House Of The Dragon casting team. That is what they wanted. A new star that will take off similar to Emilia Clarke when she was cast as Daenerys Targaryen in the original series.
Milly's career boost has seemingly happened overnight, according to the actor herself. And there's no doubt that her life is going to change exponentially as the series progresses.
She is, without a doubt, the highlight of the initial episode. Perfectly encapsulating a Targaryen on the rise.
How Milly Alcock Became A Targaryen
While there are a number of things that make one a Targaryen, there's no doubt that dragon riding is the most famous. In the first episode, "The Heirs Of The Dragon", Milly's Rhaenyra has a couple of interactions with her dragon, Syrax. The first of which is when she first appears, riding through the skies and over King's landing.
In an interview with Vulture, Milly revealed that actually filming the riding isn't nearly as fun as it looks on screen.
"It’s incredibly mundane. It’s very underwhelming. You don’t really learn, they just throw you onto a machine that’s basically like a bucking bronco," Milly said.
"You’re elevated ten meters in the air, all harnessed in," she continued. "There’s a bunch of guys with leaf blowers, and they just blow it in your face. I found it very difficult, though. I didn’t know what to do with my face. They were like, 'Can you look more angry?' And I was like, 'What do you mean?'"
Another important part of being a Targaryen is knowing High Valyrian.
"I obviously didn’t learn the whole language. I did not do High Valyrian Duolingo.," Milly said of learning the fictitious language.
"I would learn the scene in English so I knew what was going on, and then I would get it printed out in High Valyrian to learn phonetically. Then I listened to a recording of the guy who made the language speaking it. Then it became muscle memory and I didn’t have to think about what I was saying. The melody of High Valyrian was actually nice to play with because you could fall into it and not think about what you were saying. Then, I would try to think about what I was saying in English as I was speaking another language."
What Milly Alcock Thinks Of Her House Of The Dragon Co-Stars
Another vital part of becoming Rhaenyra Targaryen is understanding her relationships with her various family members, as well as her friends. At the beginning of House Of The Dragon, her best friend is Alicent Hightower, played by Emily Carey.
It turns out, that Milly and Emily's relationship in real life mirrored their characters.
"It’s funny because it reflects a lot of me and Emily’s relationship. We’re two young women who felt completely out of our depth in a very niche and specific circumstance."
"We didn’t really have anybody that could relate to us or understand us. That is, essentially Rhaenyra and Alicent’s relationship."
Milly went on to say that she and Emily bonded greatly over the massive opportunity that has changed the course of their careers.
But that's not something she could relate to when it came to the uber-experienced Matt Smith, who plays her uncle Daemon Targaryen.
"Matt is an incredible actor, and an incredible role model for a lot of the young cast, especially in terms of set etiquette and knowing when to speak up and when to not speak up when it isn’t your responsibility or lane. Our dynamic is so interesting onscreen, and it was so much fun to spend time with him and really work on it. It’s funny because he’s so not like that character. He’s really lovely."
Finally, Milly spoke of her relationship with Fabien Frankel, who plays Ser Criston Cole.
"I just loved Fabs. We’ve become very good friends on this job. He was the first person I met in real life on this show. We asked to meet each other through our agents, and we went on a massive walk and got really drunk together. I wish I had more scenes with him because I think that dynamic is so poignant in terms of her perspective on the royal family and her role within it."
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