‘House of the Dragon’: Milly Alcock Was ‘Shaking’ Filming This Scene
House of the Dragon introduced Milly Alcock as young Rhaenyra Targaryan. She’s going to grow up so fast that in a few episodes, Emma D’Arcy will play her. Alcock was there first, and her first scene was a doozy. In a recent interview, Alcock explained why her first day on the job made her tremble.
Alcock was a guest on the House of the Dragon podcast for episodes 3 “Second of His Name.” She shared her dramatic introduction to the series was a scene from the very first episode. Now that you’ve seen House of the Dragon, you can imagine why she was “shaking.” House of the Dragon airs new episodes Sundays on HBO Max.
The scene that made Milly Alcock shake in ‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 1
At the end of the series premiere of House of the Dragon, King Viserys (Paddy Considine) tells Rhaenyra the story of Aegon’s “Song of Ice and Fire.” Viserys makes her promise to carry the secret. As a Game of Thrones fan, Alcock knew how monumental that was.
“It’s in the first episode, the end of the first episode,” Alcock said on the House of the Dragon podcast. “I’m in the skull room with Paddy and he’s telling me something very, very important. And that was my first day and I was shaking. I was so scared.”
Even the hosts of the podcast thought that was too big a scene to begin with. The Song of Ice and Fire is the whole prophecy that winter is coming.
“Yeah, thank you,” Alcock said. “That’s what I said. I was like guys, let’s think about it here. But we got it.”
By ‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 3, Rhaenyra is no fan of King Viserys
That was a nice moment of trust and validation to begin House of the Dragon on. Viserys is even open to having the first Targaryen queen. It’s not to be though because he succumbs to pressure to marry. And he chooses Rhaenyra’s best friend, Alicent (Emily Carey). By episode 3, Alcock was no longer shaking and had Rhaenyra’s psyche down.
“She’s over it,” Alcock said. “And I think that’s why we see her relationship develop more with Criston Cole in ep, 3 because she’s like, ‘I have no one. No one is listening to me. My best friend’s f***ed my dad again. There’s no one.’ So I think she’s just like what’s the point of trying to have a conversation with Dad because I know he’s not going to listen to me or he’s going to twist it into something. She doesn’t want to hear what he has to say so she’s not willing to reach out as well.”
First impressions of Rhaenyra
Before she even got to her first scene, Alcock had to get a handle on Rhaenyra. And only Rhaenyra in the first six episodes, because one she grows up before D’Arcy takes over.
“Rhaenyra’s interesting because the way that she behaves in the world is very counterintuitive to the way that she feels and the way she wants to behave,” Alcock said. “So she’s constantly fighting that battle. She’s a very interesting young woman who is put through the wringer and is scrutinized by everyone and does some bad things but we learn to love her.”
