Emma D'Arcy Never Plays It Safe
11 June, 2026
Photos Rachell Smith
Styling Davey Sutton
Words Defined Team
Emma D'Arcy is no longer emerging. Over the past few years, they have become one of the most distinctive voices working in film and television today, bringing an uncommon intelligence and unpredictability to every role they inhabit. Yet what makes D'Arcy so fascinating is not their rise, but their appetite for what comes next. As House of the Dragon enters its third season, they find Rhaenyra Targaryen at her most formidable yet — a ruler whose conviction has eclipsed doubt. Away from the fantasy epic that made them a global star, D'Arcy continues to seek out ambitious collaborators and creative challenges that demand complete surrender. Whether leading one of the world's biggest television series or stepping into the unknown with visionary filmmakers, they seem most alive on uncertain ground. Here, D'Arcy reflects on power, ambition, friendship, creativity and the strange exhilaration of taking the leap.
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This season of House of the Dragon, it feels like Rhaenyra is finally willing to become dangerous. Was there a moment during filming where you realised, “Oh, she’s crossed a line now?”
Those in power don’t often come face-to-face with the consequences of their decisions. It’s much easier for one’s morality to be corrupted — insidiously, by degrees — when the atrocities committed in your name are at a distance. This is certainly the case for Rhaenyra but, in season 3, there are certain moments when she’s confronted very directly by the horrors of her campaign. Crossing that kind of boundary — when the consequences are immediate and visceral, when there is no protective distance — forces a kind of personal reckoning which we see play out this season.
How has Rhaenyra changed the most since season one? And do you think she still recognises herself at this point in the story?
In season one, Rhaenyra was plagued by doubt: she questioned her right to rule, what kind of ruler she should be, and whether her father was even right to name her heir in the first place. By season 3, a lot of that doubt has gone. It’s been expelled by a new religiosity. She believes that hers is holy war, that she has a divine mandate to rule. I think this growing fanaticism does indicate a marked changed in character. For the first two seasons, doubt kept her innate Targaryen madness in check - by season 3, that moderating force has fallen away.
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What part of Rhaenyra do you understand instinctively now that maybe you didn’t at the beginning?
Three seasons in, I think I understand her anger better. Also her sense of duty — especially to her late father. After his death, it’s not just that she grieves him, or feels she must preserve his memory; she feels she is the custodian of his spirit, uniquely positioned to embody his intent.
Was there a scene this season that stayed with you after filming?
There are scenes in episode 2 that have really stayed with me. It’s a huge episode that required a huge performance. For an actor, those are like match days: a big challenge with everything to play for. I haven’t see it yet but, if it sings anything like it did on the page, it could be a special hour of television.
What’s the most surreal part of being part of something this culturally huge?
Sometimes, strangers will start conversations as if we’ve already been talking; there can be something quite dreamlike about a display of familiarity on an unfamiliar face. It reminds me of The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro, in which the narrator is constantly pulled in different directions by strangers who behave as if they know him. In those moments, I have to rewind a couple of steps. I say “Nice to meet you”, ask for their name and offer my own — conversations tend to progress much more normally after that.
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Fans love the relationship between you and Olivia Cooke, both onscreen and off. What’s your dynamic actually like when the cameras stop rolling?
Liv is my great friend. After months and months of filming — it can take eight to complete a season — I owe a good part of my sanity to her.
What change would you love to see in the industry over the next decade?
More people from minority groups in production positions; greener working practices; an end to feature-length commercials.
You have just completed work on Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s new film Digger opposite Tom Cruise, Sandra Huller, Jesse Plemons and Riz Ahmed. How was working on a project of that scale different to the work you've done before?
Compromise is usually a necessary part of the film-making process. A finished movie tends to be a compromise between an initial, conceived idea and the practical, pragmatic reality of actualising that idea. With Alejandro and Tom there is no such compromise. They share a conviction that anything is achievable with enough practise, planning and rigour. I have never known a higher benchmark and I was totally thrilled every minute I spent on their set.
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You've talked in interviews about how you respond to an adrenaline rush. Would you describe yourself as someone who takes risks – personally and professionally? If so, can you give us some examples. Or are you more calm and steady by nature?
I’m always craving adrenaline. It’s my drug of choice. I sometimes wonder if I have a fundamental deficiency that I spend my working life trying to right. As an actor, when you begin a new project, you relinquish some measure of the control you have over your life. You strap in for an unknown ride — and that state of free-fall is adrenalising.
I just returned to London from Texas, where I was shooting a movie about skydiving. Skydiving maps pretty accurately onto my experience of the creative process: from the preparation, to the gradual ascension to altitude, to having no options left but to jump.
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And personally – what would you like to have achieved for yourself in, say, 40 years time?
To be alive! To have maintained deep, lasting relationships. To have a body of work I’m proud of and continuing to build.
Do you have a passion outside of acting that people would be surprised by?
Buying second-hand crap online.
What’s something you’re obsessed with right now?
My obsession with Tracy Emin has come round again. She has a big retrospective at the Tate Modern at the moment. She’s a truly radical person, in my opinion. Her capacity to speak truth - which may be better described as a defiant refusal to lie - feels more vital now than ever.
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What’s the last thing that made you cry?
Lay, Lady, Lay by Bob Dylan
And what really makes you laugh?
My partner, every day.
What’s your comfort watch, comfort food, or comfort ritual?
At the end of a working day, it’s very important to burn things: candles, incense, sage. You have to smoke out the shadow of a character. In terms of comfort food, I love to be held by a bowl of pasta.
House of the Dragon is streaming now on HBO Max.
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TEAM:
Talent: Emma D’Arcy
Photographer / Director: Rachell Smith
Producer: Nicola Rusted
Casting Director: Annabel Brog
Stylist: Davey Sutton @ A Frame Agency
Hair: Josh Knight Using @hairbysammcknight @ A Frame Agency
Makeup: Phoebe Walters
Movement Director: Katya Bourvis @ MS Represents
DOP: Charlotte Croft
Film Editor: Lydia Bowden
Film Post Production: INK
Film Colourist: Katie Dymmock
Film Assistant Colourist: Nicole Angliss
Film Producer: Grace Tomlinson
Defined PR: RM Publicity
Styling Assistant: Emilia Zentner
Photo Assistant: Klaudija Avotina
Photo Assistant: Ethan Humphries
Stills Post: Wojtek Cyganik
Studio: Loft Studios London
Thanks to: CLD Communications