Nonbinary Actor Emma D’Arcy Stars in ‘House of the Dragon’

Game of Thrones fans can rejoice: Years after the show wrapped up its final season, HBO Max has shared the trailer for House of the Dragon, a prequel series marking the return of the series’ powerful families and immersive fantasy universe. The show also elevates nonbinary actor Emma D’Arcy, who portrays lead character Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Rahenyra is the daughter of Viserys Targaryen and expects to become the queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Though, Westeros’ patriarchal society threatens to prevent her reign, along with a number of other parties looking to similarly secure their spot on the Iron Throne.

The Westeros public gave her the name of the Realm’s Delight, though Rhaenyra isn’t a typical princess—She serves as her father’s cupbearer, rides dragons, and enjoys freedoms typically not afforded to women heirs. D’Arcy tells Entertainment Weekly that the character “pushes the edges of womanhood,” with an “obsession” with masculinity and equating it to freedom.

“She is a person who feels at odds with the way that she is read by the world—even this label the Realm’s Delight, which implies a passivity, being an object of people’s ogling,” they say. “It’s like she has a doppelgänger. The doppelgänger is Rhaenyra born male, who has access to all the things that she craves and feels to be hers.

D’Arcy expands on the conversation with Hollywood Reporter, adding that Rhaenyra is a fundamental outsider with an “ongoing battle” over what it means to be a woman. D’Arcy says, “She’s terrified of getting locked into motherhood and is aware of how her position would be different if she were male.”

As a nonbinary person, D’Arcy says that they’ve always found themself pulled toward and repelled by masculine and feminine identity.

“I think that plays out truthfully here,” they add. “She can’t attend court in a way that comes easily to other people.”

We can’t wait to see D’Arcy in action, though fans will need to wait until halfway through the show’s first season for the actor to appear as the adult version of Rhaenyra.

House of the Dragon premieres August 21 on HBO Max. Check out the trailer here:

Screenshot courtesy of HBO Max on YouTube