“It was about three months of self-taping in my living room in the middle of the pandemic, so it was amazing.” D’Arcy recalls, “Actually, it felt like living on an island and trying to make cinema or something, because I didn’t see anyone or really do anything, but supposedly, I was in conversation with one of the biggest TV shows in the world.”
READ MORE: House of the Dragon Actor Tackles the Meaning of Controversial Foot Scene Between Alicent and Larys
D’Arcy continues on to say how their partner had even helped them into a wig just so they could look the part on tape, “My partner and I cobbled together a wig out of literally a bag of hair and then after three months of doing that, I was invited for a four- or five-hour in-person audition. Did that, and then after that, I was told, ‘You’ll hear something next week.’”
Unfortunately, the actor found it quite odd and discouraging when they had, in fact, not received any news the week after.
“And then I didn’t [hear anything from them]. Then I was told it was probably not going my way. And I thought, ‘Wow, it’s a real shame.’” D’Arcy then shares how they went to the countryside for a refresher from the seemingly ‘failed’ audition, until they had realized it wasn’t a failure.
“I went to the countryside, just for the weekend, to start metabolizing, and at the end of that weekend, I had about 14 missed calls from my agent. I spoke to him the next morning to hear, ‘They changed their mind! Do you want to do it?’ So weird, honestly. A very solitary process that went on seemingly half a year.”
Emma D’Arcy portrayed the older Rhaenyra Targaryen starting Season 1, Episode 6 of House of the Dragon after a 10-year time jump. Despite fan concerns of recasting major characters such as Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra, there is no doubt that D’Arcy did a spectacular job and instantly became fan-favorite after making their debut on screen.
Meanwhile, the first season of House of the Dragon is currently streaming on HBO.
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