House Of The Dragon: Emma D'Arcy Talks Audience Reaction To Recast

gamerant.com:

Emma D'Arcy's reign on House of the Dragon has just begun. To mark the occasion, they spoke candidly about their anxieties about the increased attention they will soon face, the camaraderie they feel with their co-stars, and their personal feelings about the relationship between Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and the much-younger Rhaenyra Targaryen (formerly Milly Alcock).

When House of the Dragon premiered, it was with Milly Alcock in the lead role of Rhaenyra Targaryen. For five episodes, audiences saw her grow from a teenager to a young woman, losing much of her innocence in the process. This was just a prelude for events to come, however, as it was always intended for D'Arcy to play an older version of the character, and they were actually cast first in the role. While it was necessary to establish the relationship between Rhaenyra and Alicent (Emily Carey, then Olivia Cooke), and to explain the events that lead to the main story, the Dance of the Dragons that the series covers occurs during Rhaenyra's thirties, so some sort of time jump was inevitable.

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In an interview with the Independent, D'Arcy covers how fans might feel about their new take on the character, as opposed to Alcock's. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?” They say. “It’s a difficult point at which to meet an audience. They only get me when they lose Milly, so they meet me in a place of grief, of losing someone they just spent five hours with. I’m… I’m well aware of that.” But D'Arcy also conceded that they found some comfort with co-star Matt Smith, explaining, “I had a nice chat with Matt, the other day, and he said it’s like the Doctor Who curse. You’ve got to regenerate. And yeah, unfortunately,