House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy makes GQ’s Men of the Year list

The first season of House of the Dragon has wrapped, and it’s made stars out of several of its cast members, most prominently Paddy Considine, who played the ailing King Viserys I Targaryen; Olivia Cooke, who plays his scheming queen Alicent Hightower; and Emma D’Arcy, who plays his daughter and heir Rhaenyra.

All of these actors gave knockout performances, and we can expect Cooke and D’Arcy to keep on giving them throughout the rest of the series. (RIP King Vizzy T.) And who knows who else might emerge as a new favorite in seasons to come? Game of Thrones had a knack for taking little-known actors and making them stars; so far, House of the Dragon is following in its footsteps. We love to see it.

To wit: Emma D’Arcy is included on GQ’s new list of Men of the Year alongside other 2022 breakouts like Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson on Stranger Things) and Lee Jung-jae (Seong Gi-hun on Squid Game). GQ’s Mike Christensen writes that, “House of the Dragon owes much of its plaudits to breakout star Emma D’Arcy who plays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen,” and I can’t disagree; D’Arcy took ahold of this role and never let go, showing us who Rhaenyra is in all her contradictions and complexity.

Check out the full list of Men of the Year honorees below:

"Marisa AbelaSheila AtimEmma D’ArcyEs DevlinLeon EdwardsMo FarahStephen GrahamMyha’la HerroldSharon HorganMichael ImperioliDavid JonssonLee Jung-jaeHarry LawteyLouis TherouxJoseph QuinnAshley WaltersBen Whishaw"

Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen) among GQ’s Men of the Year honorees

Just to head off this question at the pass, Emma D’Arcy is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. At first, I figured that this was part of the reason GQ chose to include them on its “Men of the Year” list. However, the list also includes several cis women, including Bad Sisters creator Sharon Horgan and Underground Railroad star Sheila Atim (who once upon a time was going to be in the cancelled Game of Thrones spinoff Bloodmoon, FYI).

Apparently GQ has been including non-men on its list of Men of the Year for a long while — folk like Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Aniston and Megan Thee Stallion have all graced the cover — so the choice to include D’Arcy isn’t quite as groundbreaking as I first assumed. Still, the honor is well deserved and I can’t wait to see what D’Arcy brings to House of the Dragon in season 2.

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