Milly Alcock, who stars as a young Rhaenyra Targaryen onHouse of the Dragon, recently discussed what it’s like to act in an entirely invented language, in this case, High Valyrian). Taking to theHouse of the Dragonofficial companion podcast co-hosts Jason Concepción and Greta Johnsen, Alcock discussed playing Westeros' “punk princess,” as well as the third episode of the series, “Second of His Name.”
House of the Dragonhas been enjoying its place in the cultural zeitgeist lately. Ratings for the showhave been great for HBO, and a companionHouse of the Dragonpodcasthas been premiering alongside the series as it airs. Each week co-hosts Concepción and Johnsen interview actors from the series as they discuss the newest episode. For episode three, Alcock was the guest of choice.
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Concepción notes, in this episode, that in addition to learning an English accent (Alcock is Australian), Alcock had toact as a natural speaker of Valyrian. Rhaenyra frequently speaks with her uncle, Daemon (as portrayed by Matt Smith) in Valyrian, in addition to commanding her dragon, Syrax, using Valyrian commands. Alcock pointed out that the process was actually quite fun.
Alcock stated that the process was like “learning a song in another language,” explaining that she would first perform the scene in English before it would be presented to her on a printed-out sheet with a phonetic reading. She was also presented with an audio recording of the dialogue, and by the time she was ready to perform, Alcock says it was like she was on “autopilot.” After Concepción joked that she must have been speaking gibberish by the end of a take, Alcock jokingly agreed and said that it happened every time.
The Valyrian inHouse of the Dragonhas been handled exceptionally. WhileAlcock’s Rhaenyra is similar to Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys, it’s clear that the latter learned Valyrian with a different accent when compared with the former, as Daenerys was raised in exile, rather than among the Targaryens in Westeros. Linguist expert David J. Peterson, who works as an advisor for the show and who crafted Dothraki and High Valyrian into proper languages, has put great thought into the linguistic differences that would be present in the world of Westeros.
Taking theHouse of the Dragonfuneral sceneof Queen Aemma Arryn and Prince Baelon from “The Heirs of the Dragon” as an example, it’s subtly clear that Rhaenyra speaks Valyrian differently from its portrayal inGame of Thrones.Rhaenyra trills out “dracarys” with a foreign inflection, rolling her ‘r’s, while Daenerys spoke it with more of an English accent. It’s little details like that that make the world of Westeros feel lived-in.
House of the Dragonairs on Sunday at 9 PM EST on HBO.
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