Everything You Need to Know About <i>House of the Dragon</i> Star Milly Alco*ck (2024)

One of the most anticipated shows of this fall is the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which will tell the story of the Targaryen civil war, and is based on George R.R. Martin's book Fire and Blood.

The plot focuses on the friendship between Lady Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Princess Rhaenrya (Emma D'Arcy), the eldest child of King Viserys I's (Paddy Considine), and the succession struggle between Rhaenyra and her uncle Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), the supposed heir to the Iron Throne.

However, the show will also depict Alicent and Rhaenrya as young women—portrayed by Emily Carey and Milly Alco*ck, respectively. Alco*ck and Carey are sure to be two of the breakout stars of House of the Dragon. Here's everything you need to know about Milly Alco*ck:

She was born and raised in Sydney, Australia.

Alco*ck was born on April 11, 2000—making her 22 years old at the time of the House of the Dragon premiere. She has two brothers, and describes herself as "very private," and her family having no background in entertainment.

She first got her taste of acting when she was in a school play when she was "five or six," and went on attended Sydney’s Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.

She dropped out of high school during her senior year to pursue an acting career.

"School’s never been for me," Alco*ck told The Sydney Morning Herald. "I’ve never been somebody who’s thrived in the school environment. There’s a stigmatisation of people who drop out of high school. But I couldn’t turn down Upright for a piece of paper. That just seemed ridiculous to me and infuriating."

Alco*ck expanded on her decision to play a runaway teenager in Upright, an Australian drama, to Vogue Australia. "I never doubted it for a second," she said of leaving Newton High School. "I was almost too impulsive. I was like: ‘No, this is what I’ve been working towards and I’ve been given this amazing opportunity with this amazing cast, with this beautiful script.’ I couldn’t say no and I couldn’t let the fear and anxiety of not finishing school haunt me, because that would have defeated the whole purpose of leaving."

She made her acting debut in 2014.

Her first role was "Teen Girl 1" in Wonderland, an Australian romcom TV show. However, her breakout role was in Upright as Meg, a runaway teenager. For her portrayal, she won the Casting Guild of Australia's 2018 Rising Star Award.

"I auditioned for years and years and didn’t get anything, but I think the acting industry is competitive because it can afford to be," she told Wonderland about her career. "Art is subjective and most of the time it’s out of your control. So every time I go in for an audition, I think 'I either get this and things will change or I don’t and things stay the same. There’s no point worrying about it.'"

Playing a young Princess Rhaenrya on House of the Dragon is Alco*ck's first major American role.

She found out she got the role while she was washing dishes at a restaurant in Sydney, she recounted, and quickly moved to England where the series filmed. (No word on what restaurant she was working in.)

"It was a big change but I just told myself, 'Okay for whatever reason they believe in me, so I have to believe in myself,'" she told Wonderland. "I tried not to let myself become consumed with all the frills and fluff of what could happen after the show because whatever I did was going to be on screens forever, so I wanted to put down the best performance I could."

Her only social media is her Instagram account, @millyalco*ck.

Her bio reads, "Extremely underwhelming in real life 🙇🏼‍♀️" and she writes her name is "Mils," a nickname for Milly. Her feed is full of film photos of herself and her friends, and her aesthetic is extremely Gen Z.