HBO's House of the Dragon: Why were Milly Alcock and Emily Carey advised not to talk to actors playing their older counterparts?

HBO's House of the Dragon has been breaking records with its brilliant plot and powerful acting, which is probably why actors playing the roles of the younger version of some of the iconic characters in the story were advised not to interact with their "future self."

The current stars of the series, Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, a.k.a Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, recently spoke about their future in the series, or more specifically, about their future selves in the series.

Read on to find out more about what the young actors had to share about the series.

---

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey never interacted with their older counterparts in House of the Dragon

Time-jumps in House of the Dragon might see young Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower replaced by new actors playing their older counterparts. The two may not return for season 2 of the series as their characters get older.

Milly Alcock, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, is the daughter of King Viserys and the heir to the Iron Throne. On the other hand, Emily Carey plays Alicent Hightower, the daughter of Otto Hightower and the new wife of Viserys. Thanks to the HBO series, the two young actors have gained a lot of recognition for their roles, but they may not be on the show for much longer.

Rhaenyra will soon be played by Emma D’Arcy, while Alicent will be played by Olivia Cooke. While the actors play the same characters, Alcock and Carey never interacted with those who essay the roles of the older versions of their characters.

In an interview with The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon, Emily Carey talked about playing the younger version of Alicent and passing the character on to Cooke. She said that she and co-star Milly Alcock never interacted with Cooke or D’Arcy, and were advised not to as they are essentially playing two different characters. She shared:

"I had so much creative freedom in this role, in a sense, it’s like we’re playing two completely different characters. Me and Olivia didn’t talk at all about the character or the job, in the same way Emma and Milly didn’t. We were advised not to because it is like we’re literally playing completely different people."

She further shared:

"Ten years is a really long time, you know? You’re seeing them go from practically children into grown women, there’s a lot of growing up to do, so yeah, they treated us like different characters. It didn’t feel like I was playing a younger version of a character that I’m so used to doing at this point, maybe one day I will be the main one and someone will be playing younger versions of me."

---

About the HBO Max series

The official trailer for House of the Dragon dropped in July, and the series premiered on Sunday, August 21, on HBO Max. It stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke/Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy/ Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen.

The synopsis for the series reads:

"House of the Dragon tells the story of an internal succession war within House Targaryen at the height of its power, 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen."

House of the Dragon is executively produced by Miguel Sapochnik, Ryan Condal, George R. R. Martin, Ron Schmidt, Jocelyn Diaz, Sara Hess, and Vince Gerardis. It is created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal, and is based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by Martin.

Catch episode 3 of House of the Dragon on HBO Max and Hotstar this Sunday, September 4, and find out more about how it all led to the Targaryen civil war.