Emma D'Arcy is a nonbinary actor who uses "they/them" pronouns. They play Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, which returns for its second season this Sunday, June 16. While promoting the show, D'Arcy's costar Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) briefly spoke to Sue Perkins, who hosts the series House of the Dragon: War Room on Sky. Perkins had previously spoken to D'Arcy about the final scene of season 1, where Daemon tells Rhaenyra that her son Lucerys was dead. Speaking to Smith, Perkins said that “she gave you all the credit.”
Smith praised D'Arcy, referring to them with "they/them" pronouns. “I can’t take the credit, I have to say, aren’t they brilliant?” Smith said. “They are absolutely brilliant and you’re in for a real treat with Emma this year, I think Emma’s put in… a really great performance.”
Matt correcting Sue on Emma's pronouns OH MY HEART 😭 pic.twitter.com/G6kBssjIG2
— gee 🗡 (@uncledaddyism) June 10, 2024
Fans online saw this clip and took it was Smith gently correctly Perkins in regards to D'Arcy's pronouns. Perkins later addressed the gaffe on Twitter/X. "It was a shitty mistake," Perkins wrote. "Had loads of stuff going on in my earpiece and so wasn't as focused as I should have been. No excuses though. These things matter and I feel terrible about it. Am a massive fan of their work and would never want to be disrespectful x."
I doubt that many people suspect that Perkins, who's part of the LGBT+ community herself, misgendered D'Arcy on purpose. This will likely blow over soon, but anything a flap like this happens, it can become a lightning rod for discourse, since it involves a sensitive issue a lot of people have strong feelings about. Even perusing the responses to Perkins' post, I see geniuses making jokes about identifiying "as Napolean" and saying they don't believe in "gender ideology." Social media can be an exhausting place.
To combat this, I recommend people tune into the House of the Dragon season 2 premiere this Sunday, so they can see Emma D'Arcy crush it beyond any criticism.
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