Everything to know about House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen)

It’s the final countdown until House of the Dragon season 2 premieres this Sunday, June 16. While we wait for the Game of Thrones spinoff to make its highly-anticipated return, we're getting reacquainted with the stellar cast through promo for the new episodes. Like the original series, the prequel stars many fresh faces who are currently having their breakout moment. One of those is Emma D’Arcy, who seriously impressed us in the first season in their role as Rhaenyra Targaryen. D’Arcy is a nonbinary actor who uses they/them pronouns.

Season 1 of House of the Dragon saw Rhaenyra portrayed by Milly Alcock for the first five episodes as she was named the heir to the Iron Throne by her father, King Viserys I Targaryen. But while many pledged their allegiance to Rhaenyra, minds were changed when Viserys eventually had a son, Aegon. The back half of the season took place after a major time jump, seeing D'Arcy step into the role. Here's everything you should know about the actor ahead of season 2.

Early life and roles before House of the Dragon

D’Arcy was born in London, England on June 27, 1992, which makes them 31 years old. They'll be turning 32 later this month. While speaking to Interview Magazine in 2022, D'Arcy recalled when they knew they wanted to be an actor, remembering a time they performed in a children’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, taking on the role of Titania:

"But I remember coming off—you know, I say stage, I mean the trestles in our school hall—and going out into the playing field and just running and running and running. And so I got a taste of the drug then, I think."

- Emma D'Arcy

Before landing the part of Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, D’Arcy appeared in the Amazon Prime Video shows Truth Seekers (2020) and Hanna (2020), as well as Netflix’s Wanderlust (2018). They also had a role in the 2021 film Mothering Sunday alongside Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Odessa Young, and Josh O’Connor. They've performed in theater productions in England, most notably at the Arcola Theatre, the Oxford Playhouse, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Yard Theatre, and other venues.

D'Arcy is a Golden Globe nominee

I was so pleasantly surprised when House of the Dragon took home the award for Best Television Series - Drama at the 2023 Golden Globes. The show only received two nominations at that award show, with the second being D'Arcy's nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama. They ended up losing Zendaya, who won the award for playing Rue in Euphoria, but it was impressive just for them to be nominated. Appearing in only five episodes of season 1, D'Arcy clearly made an impression on fans, critics, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Though season 2 has not premiered yet, early reviews rave over D'Arcy's performance, among others, so I would be shocked if they don't receive another Golden Globe nomination this time around. Emmys, take note! (Though the show received multiple Emmy nominations in 2023 and won the award for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, none of the cast members received noms.)

On the red carpet at the 2023 Golden Globes, D'Arcy explained what the nomination meant to them, saying that "it implies the space for trans people and gender non-conforming people is getting bigger all the time."

Follow them on Instagram

Like their House of the Dragon co-stars, D’Arcy is active on Instagram and their following count has seriously skyrocketed since House of the Dragon premiered. They went from around 19,000 followers ahead of the series premiere to 787,000 at the time of this writing.

Check out D’Arcy’s Instagram page and give them a follow here.

Who else can't wait to see this epic story continue? Rhaenyra's about to have another huge season now that the Dance of the Dragons has begun. Don’t miss the premiere of House of the Dragon season 2 this Sunday on HBO! The first episode is going to be a wild one.

Check back with us at Winter is Coming for our coverage all season long, including on our podcast Take the Black. In addition to our usual Wednesday afternoon live shows, we'll also be going live every Sunday night immediately after the new episode of House of the Dragon to discuss all the biggest moments.

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