Actor Emma D’Arcy has been hailed as a powerhouse for her breakout performance as Rhaenyra Targaryen in the fantasy drama, House of the Dragon. As a woman deprived of her inheritance, the actor has channelled rage and desperation in a beautiful blend for two seasons now. Ahead of the premiere of the third season, Emma spoke to Hindustan Times about her character’s battles in this season and shared some thoughts on how co-star Matt Smith brings a ‘football hooligan energy’ to Daemon.
‘There is a lovely tension between the source material and adaptation’
House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones, is based on George RR Martin’s Fire and Blood. The book was written as a history of the Targaryens, the fictional dynasty that ruled Westeros before the events of A Game of Thrones. While the show largely stays faithful to the source material, it has made some notable deviations as well. Emma says, “That’s part of the interest of the show. There’s a lovely tension between the source material and getting to create this adaptation is that the source material is plotted history, while the show is told through the POV of this complex family.”
The book presents Rhaenyra as almost a mad queen, a tyrant who could not let go of the lure of power. But the show offers a more layered, sympathetic portrayal of the character. Emma chalks the differences down to how women in power have been perceived over the years. “A way in which patriarchy preserves and consolidates male power is to prevent women from easily wielding power in the same way and condemning them for it,” they say.
‘Rhaenyra has to deal with a campaign of othering’
Emma says that in season 3, as the Dance of the Dragons intensifies, Rhaenyra will have to contend with more men doubting her abilities to govern. “Something Rhaenyra has to reckon with is trying to right the campaign of othering. She comes in as a ruling queen, and she has to find a way to declare to her male colleagues and counsel, as well as her subjects, that ‘I am the same as you. I have the same capacity to lead the realm as you’,” they add.
‘Matt allows Daemon to be a football hooligan’
One of the highlights of the show has been Emma’s chemistry with co-star Matt Smith, with fans calling their characters Rhaenyra and Daemon a power couple. Praising Matt for his physical style of acting, Emma says he has turned a violent character into a medieval football hooligan, imbuing it with charm. “There was a scene we did this season, and I got to watch Matt, who is an amazing physical performer, do some violence. The way Matt approaches it is allowing Daemon to be like a football hooligan. It is a much more poised presentation of violence. That’s probably why some of that thrill and charge is glamorous,” says Emma.
House of the Dragon season 3 premieres on June 21 on HBO and HBO Max worldwide. In India, the show will stream on JioHotstar. The eight-episode season 3 will conclude on August 9.