HBO’s upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon has cast Milly Alcock as the young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. The much-anticipated series also just announced Emily Carey has come on board as the young Alicent Hightower, the daughter of Hand of the King Otto Hightower.
The two new cast members join a cast that includes Paddy Considine (The Third Day), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player one), Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers), and Matt Smith (The Crown). Steve Toussaint (It’s a Sin), Eve Best (Nurse Jackie), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), and Sonoya Mizuno (Crazy Rich Asians) also star in season one.
Author George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal (Colony) co-created the series which is based on Martin’s Fire & Blood. Condal and Emmy Award winner Miguel Sapochnik (Games of Thrones) are the season one showrunners and executive produce with Martin, Vince Gerardis, Sara Lee Hess, and Ron Schmidt.
Sapochnik won an Emmy and a Directors Guild award for directing one of GoT‘s best episodes, “Battle of the Bastards.” He’ll direct season one episodes along with Clare Kilner (The Alienist: Angel of Darkness) and Geeta V. Patel (The Witcher)
Game of Thrones‘ Ramin Djawadi returns to the fantasy world of dragons as composer.
House of the Dragon Details, Courtesy of HBO:
The series will tell the story of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
- Paddy Considine as “King Viserys Targaryen”: Viserys was chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, good men do not necessarily make for great kings.
- Emma D’Arcy as “Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen”: The king’s first-born child, she is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man.
- Matt Smith as “Prince Daemon Targaryen”: The younger brother to King Viserys and heir to the throne. A peerless warrior and a dragonrider, Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon. But it is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air…
- Steve Toussaint as “Lord Corlys Velaryon” (“The Sea Snake”): Lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. As “The Sea Snake,” the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros, Lord Corlys built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world.
- Olivia Cooke as “Alicent Hightower”: The daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. She was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace and a keen political acumen.
- Rhys Ifans as “Otto Hightower”: The Hand of the King, Ser Otto loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne.
- Eve Best as “Princess Rhaenys Velaryon”: A dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Queen Who Never Was” was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male.
- Sonoya Mizuno as “Mysaria”: She came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall, and could have wilted…but instead she rose to become the most trusted – and most unlikely – ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.
- Fabien Frankel as “Ser Criston Cole”: Of Dornish descent, Ser Criston is the common-born son of the steward to the Lord of Blackhaven. He has no claim to land or titles; all he has to his name is his honor and his preternatural skill with a sword.
- Milly Alcock as “Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen”: She’s the king’s first-born child, of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything…but she was not born a man.
- Emily Carey as “Young Alicent Hightower”: The daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. Alicent was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace and a keen political acumen.
