4 House of the Dragon stars who should have gotten Emmy nominations
By Dan Selcke
Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen
Daemon Targaryen is a showy role. As Daemon, Matt Smith gets to joust with a guy in the first episode, fry people from the back of his dragon, kill his wife with a rock, and seduce his niece. Daemon is a reprehensible person, and yet with Matt Smith playing, somehow he came off as vaguely sympathetic?
The script allows Daemon redeeming moments, as well; we sense that he really does love his brother and niece, however many problems he causes for them. More than perhaps any other character, Daemon has a lot of contradictions, which gives Smith a ton to play with. Some actors might not be able to find a path through the fog, but Smith’s Daemon is on his way to becoming an icon.
Honorable mention: Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower
The other heavy hitter from the first season was Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower. Cooke is obviously talented — check out the scene where she comes at Rharnyra with a knife in “Driftmark” if you need proof — but I don’t think the scripts in season 1 quite equaled her abilities. Hopefully things will ramp up in season 2, because Cooke still has a lot more layers to show us.
The bad news is that none of these people will get Emmys when they’re given out on September 18. The good news is that some of them may get Emmys for these roles later. In the meantime, congrats to all the nominees, and to the cast of House of the Dragon, I hope you don’t lose too much sleep over the fact that you were robbed.
Next. All 8 Starks in Game of Thrones, ranked from worst to best. dark
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