There have only been two episodes of HBO's House of the Dragon and already fans are hooked. So far, the prequel series has brought fans the very best that Westeros has to offer — and then some.
This is in no small part due to the incredible acting performance of the series' breakout star, Milly Alcock. So in order to better get to know the Targaryen dragon rider, here are 15 facts about House of the Dragon star, Milly Alcock, fans should know.
In an interview for HBO Max, Milly was asked by her co-star, Matt Smith, who would be on her real-life Queen's Council. Without hesitation, Milly responded "My mum."
How very Targaryen of you, Milly!
"I never thought this would happen to me," Milly explained in an interview with Stellar. "I was washing dishes in a restaurant, living in my mum’s attic. This doesn’t happen to people like me, so it was incredibly quick."
Although you'd never be able to tell from her stellar performance as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, Milly is an Aussie. She was born and raised in sunny Sydney, Australia.
Milly explained in an interview with her co-star, Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), that her favorite character from Game of Thrones is none other than Arya Stark of Winterfell.
In Episode 1, "The Heirs of the Dragon," Princess Rhaenyra attends her mother's funeral. As the bodies of her mother and brother lay on the pyre, Rhaenyra exclaims "Dracarys!"
“I was like, 'I either have to sit all of my exams in rural Australia or I was just going to drop out of school,'” she told Just Jared. “So I dropped out because it was never really my thing.”
Whenever you see Milly on horseback in House of the Dragon, it's not a stunt double or CGI — it's the real thing. Milly explained in an interview for HBO Max that she, along with the rest of the cast, took many riding lessons.
The young version of Rhaenyra Targaryen that we see on House of the Dragon is only 15 years old. Milly, on the other hand, is 22.
Even though Daenerys and Rhaenyra have many similarities, Milly says that she tried to distance herself from "The Mother of Dragons." Instead, she looked to Cate Blanchett in The Golden Age and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.
Upon being told the good news by her agent, Milly went back inside, opened up a bottle of wine, and got proper drunk.
Upright tells the stories of two unlikely misfits who come together in order to transport a precious piano from one side of the Australian countryside to the other.
As Milly explained to her co-star, Matt Smith, she wasn't yet far along enough in her career where she thought she would've been able to get away with knicking items from the set. That being said, she would've loved to have stolen Rhaenyra's knife — hypothetically speaking.
Back in 2018, Milly was given the prestigious "Rising Star" awards by the Casting Guild of Australia Awards. In 2020, she was nominated for "Best Comedy Performer" for her work in Upright. Could an Emmy be in her future? Only time will tell.
At the time of her audition, Milly was still living in Australia. She filmed one self-tape and then received a call back to film another. Two weeks after that, she was told that she'd secured the part.
"I do swear a lot in real life, but not in the way that Meg uses swear words as a deflection," she explained to Vogue. "I think it’s quite a common Australian thing … casual swearing."
