{"id":520038,"date":"2026-06-26T19:47:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520038\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T19:47:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:47:26","slug":"milly-alcocks-supergirl-journey-from-her-audition-to-sexist-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520038\/","title":{"rendered":"Milly Alcock’s Supergirl Journey: From Her Audition to Sexist Backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cSupergirl<\/a>\u201d star Milly Alcock<\/a>\u2019s first big role outside of Australia was dragon sized.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Rhaenyra Targaryen in \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d \u2014 HBO\u2019s\u00a0\u201cGame of Thrones\u201d prequel series that premiered in August 2022 \u2014 Alcock played the headstrong, dragon-riding princess whom her father names as his heir, causing chaos in Westeros. Alcock landed the part at age 20, auditioning remotely during the pandemic from her home in Sydney. And though she was in only the first half of the show\u2019s first season \u2014 before Emma D\u2019Arcy took over to play Rhaenyra as an adult \u2014 she became an immediate fan favorite.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd it was Alcock\u2019s performance as Rhaenyra that drew the attention of James Gunn, the writer-director of \u201cSuperman\u201d who, with Peter Safran, also runs DC Studios as co-chairmen and co-CEOs. Gunn, Safran and the DC team cast Alcock to play Kara Zor-El, known to the world as \u201cSupergirl,\u201d in a tag at the end of last summer\u2019s \u201cSuperman,\u201d the official movie kickoff of the DCU. \u201cSupergirl\u201d \u2014 led by Alcock in her first film role, directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira \u2014 opens on June 26.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an in-depth interview conducted in mid-April for Variety\u2019s May 20 cover<\/a>, before either of us had seen \u201cSupergirl,\u201d Alcock recounted her journey to playing Kara. She also delved into why she became an actor in the first place, how \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d changed her life \u2014\u00a0and how she\u2019s trying to put the phone down and ignore the trolls.<\/p>\n

\t\tI know you met with Peter Safran in late 2023, which is what led to \u201cSupergirl.\u201d That was a general meeting, though, right?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSo it was many moons ago. I can\u2019t remember if we talked explicitly about \u201cSupergirl\u201d then, but a few weeks later I got an email sent and they were like, \u201cWe want you to tape \u2018Supergirl.\u2019\u201d And I think at that point I knew that it was based off \u201cWoman of Tomorrow\u201d \u2014 they attached that comic to it as well. I was in Australia at the time. I hadn\u2019t been home in, like, two years. So I was dealing with being back home, my family home, and everything that comes with that. I did a self-tape, and then a few days later, I was still in Australia, they told me that they wanted me to test for it. I never tested before for anything. Because everybody\u2019s online now, which is very different to being in a room. And then I flew to Atlanta from Australia, which is a massive flight.<\/p>\n

\n\tI was so scared. I was so nervous. Because it\u2019s not the room that is scary, it\u2019s not the people that are scary. It\u2019s the stakes, you know? And then I remember listening to \u201cThis Is the Day\u201d<\/a> on the car ride there. I don\u2019t know if you know that song.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\t\tI do!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, and that was the day that my life was going to change, ironically enough \u2014 that\u2019s a line in the song. I had a feeling. I just had a feeling. I think you have an intuition when a part is yours or not. I remember getting back in to the hotel room, and I was like, \u201cI\u2019ve gotten that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tSo you felt like you nailed it?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, not that I nailed it, but it was such a warm room, and I did the best that I could. And James is so great at making me feel so comfortable and so heard. It was like we were shooting a scene. And I remember getting back home and I was like, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve gotten that. Shit, what am I going to do now?\u201d Because it\u2019s like, \u201cOh now, I have to do it,\u201d because it\u2019s so exciting the climb, but then you have to do it.<\/p>\n

\t\tIn your mind, had you committed to wanting to do this role?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI knew that I was hiding from myself in a way by my initial feelings towards it, which was [affecting a faux casual voice], \u201cI\u2019m here to be an actor. I\u2019m not here to be a movie star.\u201d Unfortunately \u2014 not unfortunately, very fortunately \u2014 I\u2019ve fallen into the privilege of being in a franchise, and what that means to so many people and to my career. I couldn\u2019t book a role in an independent film until I had done a franchise. I didn\u2019t really work a year after \u201cHouse of the Dragon.\u201d I did one play that year.<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cThe Crucible\u201d on the West End.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I did \u201cThe Crucible.\u201d So throughout the process of making the film, my personal experience of being Milly mirrored Kara\u2019s experience, which was, \u201cHide, run away, pretend it\u2019s not happening.\u201d And then you have to face it to heal a part of yourself that you\u2019ve been neglecting. So it was this beautiful thing that just happened.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNino Munoz for Variety<\/p>\n

\t\tDid you realize that as you were making the movie, or before?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I was in it, because it was such a long process. I found this confidence of, \u201cNo, I do deserve to be here, and I am talented,\u201d and all these things that I really still struggle to believe. And all of that was kind of happening as it was unfolding, and Craig is so fabulous. I remember going to him when we just had started pre \u2014 I sat him down and I was like, \u201cI\u2019m freaking out. I have no idea how I\u2019m going to do this. I don\u2019t know how to be that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNot be that person in the sense of playing her \u2014 I was like, \u201cHow do I be that presence within the media, and dealing with everything?\u201d That really started our relationship in a place of trust, because I knew that he had my back, and my best interests.<\/p>\n

\t\tAs far as superhero movies go, what was your relationship to them before this?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt wasn\u2019t really a space that I had my eye on. So I learned a lot in the process of making it and playing her about the world, everything that comes with it.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat were your favorite kinds of movies growing up?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was obsessed with \u201cAnnie\u201d for some reason. The original. I could quote that film front to back. And that was the first film that I watched and that got me excited about performing, because, for me, it\u2019s always been the feeling of it. Sometimes I\u2019m like, acting is an avenue for me to emote, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m really interested in, is emoting.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen did you read Ana Nogueira\u2019s \u201cSupergirl\u201d script?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think shortly after the audition, I would say.<\/p>\n

\t\tAnd what\u2019d you think?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was like, \u201cI have to do all that?! No!\u201d Because she\u2019s in, like,\u00a0every scene. No, I was excited. Ana has done such a good job in telling this story, and I think that she\u2019s made this really fabulous female superhero. It\u2019s about a girl healing her relationship with herself \u2014 who\u2019s been really traumatized \u2014 through this other young woman. And it doesn\u2019t center around love, which you don\u2019t see alot.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat was your prep like?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI did two months of training. I would go to Leavesden, I would work out in the morning, and then I would have a break, and then I would do two hours of stunts. In the stunt training, I was starting from zero. I\u2019ve always been an athletic person; I\u2019ve always done sports, but in my early adulthood, that fizzled out a bit.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\t\tIt\u2019s hard to play sports as an adult. What were your sports as a kid?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI played pretty much everything. I played hockey. I played soccer, tennis, netball. I did nippers, which is a very Australian thing.<\/p>\n

\t\tIs netball volleyball?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. You don\u2019t know what netball is?<\/p>\n

\t\tNo!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNetball is kind of like basketball. You\u2019re on a court, and you can\u2019t move with the ball and there\u2019s different positions. So you kind of get really good at almost running with the ball by throwing it. It\u2019s quite a small court.<\/p>\n

\t\tDo we call it dodgeball, maybe?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. It\u2019s a completely different sport. It\u2019s called netball.<\/p>\n

\t\tI literally have never heard of it.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWow. It\u2019s a really fun sport. I did that, I did nippers, which is I think is just Australian, like a surf lifesaving sport. So you do an ocean swim, you do an ocean board, you run on sand.<\/p>\n

\n\tI did long-distance running. That was kind of my thing. I did athletics, which is like track. I would substitute in rugby, when I was very young, for my brothers. My brother is a rugby player now, which is really cool. So I was just always very athletic as a kid.<\/p>\n

\t\tYeah, you\u2019re not kidding. When you would do stunts in prep, what are you doing?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was learning how to throw a punch, what different types of punches to throw, learning how to throw it, learning how to fall correctly, take a hit, kick, knee \u2014 and then you slowly learn that. And then they\u2019re like, \u201cOK, now we\u2019re going to do it in sequence.\u201d And so you learn the sequence, and they\u2019re like, \u201cOK, now we\u2019re going to bring in somebody else to do it with you, as opposed to just miming it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo you had to get very good at memorizing what was going on, and just trusting your body to move. It was creating muscle memory. And Mickey [Facchinello], who is my stunt double, she\u2019s the real Supergirl. She\u2019s a weapon. She\u2019s like one of the best stunt women in the world. Nobody can move like her.<\/p>\n

\t\tIn Tom King\u2019s comic \u201cSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,\u201d Ruthye describes Kara as someone who lives in pain. Were you preparing emotionally too?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think that was the thing that I got. Pain is a universal feeling. We\u2019ve all felt pain. Whether you live very privileged-ly or you don\u2019t, that\u2019s a universal understanding. And I think I was able to connect with that pretty instantly.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of HBO<\/p>\n

\t\tI assume the production for \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d was on a massive scale, but how did this compare?\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d was more of an ensemble piece. I\u2019ve never been No. 1 on a call sheet before. So all the responsibility that comes with that, I understood. I love to go to work, and be a team player. It\u2019s not all about me. It takes so many people to make something, and so much time and effort goes into everything because we are set entirely off-world. So if Craig was like, give her a coffee cup, they\u2019d be like, \u201cWell, we need a coffee cup \u2014 for space!\u201d To me, that\u2019s the best part. You become this family. It\u2019s this beautiful little family that you create, and it\u2019s yours.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then it gets released. I don\u2019t usually watch what I\u2019m in, but when you watch it, you cannot judge or see yourself or your performance for what it is, because you have that experience associated with it. So you watch it, and you\u2019re like, \u201cI remember on that day, I remember these people.\u201d And then it\u2019s in the world, and it\u2019s somebody else\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou haven\u2019t seen \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI did, but it took me a while to.<\/p>\n

\t\tWith Krypto the dog, how did you film that?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYou mime.<\/p>\n

\t\tWas there anything there? Stuffed animal?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe had an animatronic dog in the healers\u2019 hub, which is where the dog is not very well. So we had an animatronic dog that breathed and that blinked. But yeah, I would just mime, which was a new experience of miming a dog licking your face. You surrender to the silliness of it.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen you\u2019re making a movie that\u2019s this huge, how are you gauging how it\u2019s going?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think you can feel it. You can feel the energy of the room, because there\u2019s so many people who were there to ensure that it is going well. You know what I mean? But I think with this film, we all kind of knew very early on, like, \u201cOh, this is going to be special. We\u2019re making something very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tAnd were you and Craig just constantly checking in?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCraig would come to me every morning and be like, \u201cMilly, Milly, Milly!\u201d and then like, \u201cYou have lines.\u201d He would just come in with alts of lines, just little things to make it funnier. I just trust him. I really, really trusted him that he would tell the story in the best way that it could be told.<\/p>\n

\t\tHow funny is the movie? The comic, not so funny!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I haven\u2019t seen it. But in making it, we would play with the balance of serious and funny, and then sometimes we\u2019d be like, \u201cLet\u2019s be really serious, and now let\u2019s be really funny.\u201d So they have all these choices to choose from when they edit it. I think the humor is essential to Kara \u2014 because she\u2019s avoiding, she\u2019s hiding, and that\u2019s a tool that a lot of us use to mask and to hide, is to make light and joke about what is happening.<\/p>\n

\n\tHonestly, I think, surprisingly she\u2019s the closest to playing myself I\u2019ve ever done. Which was really surprising to myself, to be like, \u201cOK, this superhero is like the closest person I\u2019m going to play to myself.\u201d It was great. I was so fortunate. She was there. She was already there. I didn\u2019t have to unlock it. She was just kind of at the surface.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNino Munoz for Variety<\/p>\n

\t\tIs that something you\u2019ve had to work harder to achieve for other roles?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think for \u201cSirens,\u201d that was the most removed from myself. Simone was, like, the opposite of me. But that was a lot of fun. It was really exciting to just disappear into somebody completely different. And Molly [Smith Metzler] is such a fabulous writer. She gave me so much to sink my teeth into.<\/p>\n

\t\tI mean, it\u2019s good that you\u2019re not like Simone.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s great I\u2019m not like that! She\u2019s a mess!<\/p>\n

\t\tDo we know what Kara does back on Earth? Did you come up with a backstory?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI came up with a backstory that she was sent to Earth, and she doesn\u2019t speak the language. She\u2019s completely isolated. The only thing that she has is this dog. She meets Clark, and he gives her this role to play, and to be a part of. And it is that we are going to be the good guys. We are going to keep the city safe. She plays the part because I think she\u2019s been through so much, and it\u2019s really nice when someone just tells you what to do.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then I think that she can\u2019t handle it, so she leaves and she goes and gets drunk \u2014 because she can\u2019t get drunk on Earth.<\/p>\n

\t\tRight. Do you think she has a job like Clark does?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI feel like I wrote down she was at school. She\u2019s a student, because she\u2019s young. She\u2019s 15 when she gets to Earth. So I reckon she\u2019s in school.<\/p>\n

\t\tShe watched her whole planet die, including her parents and her whole family. And she carries that with her. But it\u2019s a DC movie. How did you balance the tone of with that?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI let myself feel what it would really feel like. I think that the way that that was achieved was through the writing. And I\u2019m not saying it was dulled down in any way \u2014 I think that Ana really let us see her trauma. And I think it\u2019s through the way that Craig is editing it and the way cinematically it is shot and the music and the pacing and all of these things help contribute to that.<\/p>\n

\t\tI assume there are flashbacks to the death of Krypton.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a few.<\/p>\n

\t\tDid those feel very heavy to perform?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, and it was really nice, because in \u201cSirens,\u201d for example, me and Meghann [Fahy] talk a lot about our history and our backstory. But when you\u2019re given the opportunity to perform it physically \u2014 and to be physically in the space, and to construct a literal memory around it \u2014 when you perform those scenes later on reflecting on it, it\u2019s such an aid. It really helps. I lived that in a way. I did it. I saw my mom. I have a person, a 3D human to associate all of this baggage that I have.<\/p>\n

\t\tDid you film those in sequence?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe whole film was pretty sequential, which was great.<\/p>\n

\t\tThe movie\u2019s coming out soon. How do you feel?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m nervous. I understand now, because I\u2019ve done \u201cHouse of the Dragon,\u201d the potentially temporary, maybe permanent, impact it\u2019s going to have in my day-to-day life, and that is the fear. I\u2019m really excited for everyone to meet her, and to see the film. I\u2019m really, really proud of it. I think it sends such a good message. I think Craig has done a fabulous job. So I\u2019m in two worlds about it, and also navigating this whole arena [makes a circular motion around our table] is new.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros<\/p>\n

\t\tI\u2019m shocked that this is your first sitdown interview.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMy first sitdown interview. And no one teaches you how to navigate these spaces, and still be you and still not get overwhelmed. And how do you manage that? And I don\u2019t have friends in the industry. So I feel, what do I do and who do I turn to?<\/p>\n

\t\tWho do you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMy therapist at the moment, but she can only do so much! So that\u2019s something I\u2019m really trying to seek out \u2014\u00a0a mentor and those relationships.<\/p>\n

\t\tMaybe you and Scarlett Johansson and Brie Larson could form a support group.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, because I\u2019m not from an industry family at all. At all. I\u2019m down on the other side of the world, so it\u2019s an interesting place to be.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat are your hopes for the movie?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I hope that people see it in the theater. I think they will? You\u2019re meant to have a massive screen, and the sound is so important to the film. Music is at the center of that. I hope a lot of young girls see it. I hope a lot of young women see it. I hope new people who aren\u2019t into superhero films go see it. And I hope it makes people think about who a female hero can be, and what stories they can tell. And that people will go see it.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat are your biggest fears?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI mean, that it won\u2019t do well, obviously. That I will never work again! The obvious ones \u2014 that I\u2019ll be rejected in some way. But I have a good support system around me in terms of my friends and family. So I think that\u2019s what matters. This isn\u2019t real life, you know?<\/p>\n

\t\tI know. That\u2019s beyond your control, of course, but is it something that you have anxiety about anyway?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNot everyone can like everything. And I think I got the greatest fulfillment and joy, and what I\u2019m really taking away from this experience is how much I\u2019ve grown as a person. I\u2019m not really concerned with how it\u2019s received at the moment, because I can\u2019t control that.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd as an actor, you don\u2019t have a lot of control. You don\u2019t choose what you say, what you wear, where you stand, how it\u2019s cut. So you have to surrender to trusting the people around you, and having faith that they are really going to tell this story in the best way that it should be told. So I don\u2019t want to rile myself up about something that I cannot change.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019ve been down the road with how genre stuff is received by a certain toxic segment of the audience with \u201cHouse of the Dragon.\u201d How do you brace for that with this?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think, reminding myself of whose opinions I really care about. And just knowing that not everyone\u2019s going to like you. You can\u2019t get everyone to decide on dinner.<\/p>\n

\t\tI mean, you did that interview with Vanity Fair<\/a>, and simply by pointing out \u2014\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI didn\u2019t even say \u201cmen!\u201d I said \u201cpeople.\u201d And they got so angry. And I was like, \u201cYou\u2019re proving my point. You\u2019re proving my point!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tFandom has become so crazy. Deranged! \u201cLove Island\u201d people have to get security.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI kind of get it. Because I think that globally, we have lost who to trust and who to lead and who to tell us what to do, and what world to respond to and be absorbed in. Because governments systemically don\u2019t do that. They don\u2019t really have our best interests at heart, unfortunately. So people are looking to online forums to find that guidance, and to find those people to worship, in a way. I think it\u2019s really hard to be universally beloved. And the people who have done that, I\u2019m astonished at, because I think you eventually say something that not everybody agrees with. And then people zoom in on that, and they will pick you apart because of it. We don\u2019t give them grace, unfortunately.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNino Munoz for Variety<\/p>\n

\t\tWomen superheroes have always activated an ugly segment of the internet.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI guess women know that this is just how it\u2019s always been, unfortunately. And I think when people are faced with an uncomfortable reality, they get reactive and defensive. And it\u2019s a lot of people whose profiles have no photo, who are burner accounts. Or someone\u2019s name and then, \u201cDad of four, Christian,\u201d which is hilarious to me. But I mean, whose opinion do you really care about? If you\u2019re pissing the right kind of people off? You\u2019re doing OK.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat\u2019s your level of being able to put the phone down, go get a massage, or go to a movie?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s something I\u2019m trying to get better at, because I grew up online.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m Gen Z! I grew up online, so I\u2019m actively trying not to engage, although how could you not? Because sometimes people reinforce beliefs that you have about yourself, and you\u2019re like, \u201cNo, now someone\u2019s said it! It\u2019s true.\u201d And you\u2019ve kind of got to remind yourself that it\u2019s not and they\u2019re just trying to hurt you because you\u2019ve hurt them in some way. You\u2019ve gotten to them a bit. But yeah, just being out in the world, interacting with the real world, just sitting at a caf\u00e9 and watching people and reading alone \u2014\u00a0just being a participant in real life \u2014 has been really helpful.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat was the first thing that drew you to performing?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think it was the only thing I was good at.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhy does a child have to be good at anything? You were obviously very sporty.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was very sporty. I wasn\u2019t particularly academically clever. I was held back a year, and then I dropped out of school. I really struggled.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat year?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tRepeated Year 2. And then I dropped out of school when I was 18. I think what drew me to acting, I didn\u2019t know it at the time, was I had an inability to express myself fully within my life, within my relationships, I would hold things back. And acting gave me this outlet that was really safe that I could feel everything, that my emotional dysregulation was applauded, and was the best thing about me.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou went to a performing arts high school, but you\u2019re also auditioning, trying to get professional jobs. Were you doing commercials?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI did a few commercials. I was a hard worker as a kid. I worked in caf\u00e9s, I worked in restaurants. There was a time where I was working in two caf\u00e9s, and going to school at the same time somehow. School wasn\u2019t a place for me, it didn\u2019t fulfill me. And I really struggled to keep up and to focus and to comprehend what was going on a lot of the time, no matter how hard I tried. It was really frustrating, and then I got diagnosed with ADHD very recently. And I was like, \u201cOh! That\u2019s why.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tDid it feel like you were starting to get work? I\u2019m going to read you some credits from your IMDb page: \u201cJanet King,\u201d \u201cFighting Season\u201d and \u201cPine Gap.\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThey were guest roles.<\/p>\n

\t\tWould you get out of school to do them?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI would go for a few days here and there, but \u201cUpright\u201d was the big one. Kate Mulvany played my mom on \u201cFighting Season,\u201d and because of Australian budgets, we shared a trailer. There were three girls in one half-trailer, it was tiny. I didn\u2019t really know what I was doing. And she saw me! She was one of the writers on \u201cUpright.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA few years after that, we went and got a drink or something, and she was like, \u201cI wrote that for you.\u201d I was like, \u201cWow.\u201d So what I\u2019ve learned from that experience, and I try to apply, is you have to let yourself be seen. Because you never know where it\u2019s going to end up, and what relationship is going to become of that. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNino Munoz for Variety<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cUpright\u201d was the show that the \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d casting people knew about that led to them asking you to audition to play Rhaenyra.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMy agent said, \u201cWe have this untitled HBO project!\u201d And I remember I got the sides, and I went with my friend, Will McDonald, who\u2019s also an actor. And I was like, \u201cCan you help me do the self-tape?\u201d And it was a scene from \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d \u2014 I\u2019d never seen \u201cGame of Thrones!\u201d I didn\u2019t put two and two together.<\/p>\n

\t\tHa!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s like, \u201cThis is a \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 scene. Maybe they\u2019re doing something with that.\u201d Just the letter \u201cR\u201d \u2014 the role of \u201cYoung R,\u201d Untitled HBO show. I was, at the time, throwing warehouse parties with my friends. We were making money from it. My boyfriend at the time lived in this warehouse, and we kind of became the warehouse kids. It was honestly some of the best times of my life. It was such a community. I was 19.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd we would work on the space, help clean up everything for free and then the owner would let us use it. So we would throw big, live music gigs, and do the visuals and rig the space up and sound check it and then have a gallery space. So you\u2019d get a ticket, and you would go see the gallery and then you would go see live music, and then the gallery would be open for a week so you could buy art. And then we would make music videos for the people who were playing.<\/p>\n

\n\tI had such a community in Australia, an artistic community, that I haven\u2019t found since leaving. I went from that to COVID alone, London, shooting this huge thing.<\/p>\n

\t\tHad \u201cUpright\u201d come out?\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cUpright\u201d had come out.<\/p>\n

\t\tBut you\u2019re throwing warehouse parties and working in a caf\u00e9 also?!\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was washing dishes! I sound like a Roald Dahl character. I was living in the attic in my family home because we didn\u2019t have enough rooms \u2014\u00a0it was so hot in there. And I was throwing these parties. I was a stick of a thing. I was washing these dishes so proudly and so terribly, and it was an open kitchen so everyone could see me.<\/p>\n

\t\tSo you do the self-tape for \u201cHouse of the Dragon.\u201d And then how did you hear?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI remember my agent called me and said, \u201cAre you sitting down?\u201d I was at my friend Ari\u2019s house, and I just looked at him and was like, \u201cDo we have any wine?\u201d Because I couldn\u2019t tell anyone at that point.<\/p>\n

\t\tAnd then did you watch \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI did watch \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d at that point. I was in a hotel, quarantined for weeks with no window. And I watched \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tThis is in spring 2021?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNever lived out of home before. Hadn\u2019t really traveled. Most of my family didn\u2019t have a passport. Living alone in London, it was very exciting, but it was very daunting. Didn\u2019t know how to use the washing machine. I was learning how to look after myself properly: How do I function as a human? I was very independent, but that\u2019s a whole other journey of having to live alone and not know anyone in a new city, and have this big pressure in how you deal with that stress.<\/p>\n

\t\tDid you make friends with the cast?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI did, but it\u2019s also that thing that happens on a job where the dynamic and friendship only exists in that beautiful time that you have making it, and then relationships change. But I made a circle of friends in London, slowly but surely.<\/p>\n

\n\tI remember getting to set, like, \u201cOh my God, this is like nothing I\u2019ve ever seen before.\u201d I didn\u2019t know that you could make movies like that. Australia doesn\u2019t \u00a0have craft services. I shared trailers with five other women. Half trailers! Not even full ones. So I get to this, and I\u2019m just like, \u201cThis is ridiculous.\u201d And I just really wanted to be good. And I tried really hard.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou said on \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d that they got you an acting coach. Were you scared you\u2019d get fired?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIn hindsight, it was done to serve the show and to make sure that I could do the best performance that I could do. And I have an acting coach now, which is great. But at the time, it was my second day on set, so my confidence was on the floor already, and it just instilled a belief I had about myself and my ability. And it took me time to put my pride aside, because I was 21. I was alone. I was just kind of like, \u201cI can\u2019t do this and they\u2019re going to fire me.\u201d And I just wanted to be really good.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNino Munoz for Variety<\/p>\n

\t\tAfter \u201cHouse of the Dragon,\u201d you went home to film Season 2 of \u201cUpright.\u201d But did you feel like your life had changed? Did you know that you were going to leave Australia?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I knew. I moved to London a month after wrapping that show. I knew that my life was going to change, and I was still trying to get my footing into being a young person and figuring out, \u201cWho am I? How do I want to be in the world? How do I look after myself?\u201d And then also wrestling with, \u201cOK, what is my career going to be, and what films do I want to make? What do I want to be a part of?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI think for anyone who\u2019s ever moved to the other side of the world, left your family behind \u2014 our construction of our identities is usually by the things that we associate ourselves with, right? It\u2019s like the clothes I wear, the people I talk to, the coffee I buy, where I hang out.<\/p>\n

\t\tAs soon as \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d came out in August 2022, did things change?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, things changed. No one was really interested in me before. And slowly but surely, people were. And I really wanted to do theater, so I did \u201cThe Crucible,\u201d and it was one of the best experiences I\u2019ve ever had. I didn\u2019t call myself an actor until I\u2019d done that play. I felt uncomfortable with it. I said, \u201cI act!\u201d I would never be like, \u201cI\u2019m an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tDo you feel very intentional about your career, or do you want to go where the wind blows?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat I\u2019m learning through this is, like, what kind of life do I want to prioritize, OK? Do I purely take jobs driven by, \u201cI want to be the greatest actor of all time?\u201d No. Because my life is more important than that life. My day-to-day life will always take precedent over it. Because that\u2019s where the joy lies, you know? And I also think it\u2019s the duty of an actor to be a participant in the world. Talking to strangers. Most people are wonderful, you know?<\/p>\n

\t\tIs there someone who exists in the world who you look at their career and think, \u201cThat\u2019s what I would like?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s an interesting question, sometimes I look at people in the world and I\u2019m like, \u201cI would love your career,\u201d but then I\u2019m like, [whispers] \u201cI would hate your life.\u201d You know?<\/p>\n

\t\tYou said earlier that you felt like Kara was the closest to you, and that what she was going through is something that you\u2019ve gone through. What is that exactly? How do you describe that?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat Kara was going through that I was going through is she\u2019s someone who has been at war with themselves. And I think that\u2019s a very universal feeling \u2014 especially for women. And someone who is avoiding a responsibility that they have and someone who is avoiding the reality that they get to live out of fear. So it\u2019s been a really surprising journey. I never thought taking on a superhero film would do that. But it has! And what a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n

\t\tThey do?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThey do! Maybe start rapid fire.<\/p>\n

\t\tNo, you can\u2019t start rapid fire. People are nervous at the beginning of interview, and I think it would freak the person out.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve probably got a whole system about how to do this. It wouldn\u2019t loosen them up? It would do the opposite?<\/p>\n

\t\tI think so? I can try it sometime on a lower stakes interview.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYou can try it on me next time, and I\u2019ll tell you how it goes.<\/p>\n

\t\tWill do! Onward. \u201cWhat do you admire about your teenage self?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tHer fearlessness. No, actually! Her work ethic. I worked really hard as a teenager.<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cWhat\u2019s a failure you still think about?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMy warehouse parties. It wasn\u2019t really a failure, but it could have gone left or gone right, because we were making money. We were given 10 grand from the council to throw cultural events, and making this film collective, and it felt like that itch was really scratched. I was like, \u201cOh, I love this feeling as well.\u201d The problem-solving and being creative, and then seeing people be in a space and find so much joy. And it\u2019s so fun, and it\u2019s active and it\u2019s alive \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s kind of similar to acting. So I\u2019d say that.<\/p>\n

\t\tIt was a failure because it didn\u2019t continue?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, life went left instead of right. They fell apart.<\/p>\n

\t\tIt turned out you were the glue?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I guess so.<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cWhat was your form of rebelling as a teenager?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSmoking. I was quite a well-behaved kid. I wish I was worse, looking back. I wish I behaved worse when I was a kid.<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cWhat is something you still feel the need you need to prove to the people you meet?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tOoh! I guess I feel like I need to prove to the people that I meet that I\u2019m smart. I\u2019m insecure about that.<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cWhat\u2019s something your parents taught you to appreciate?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m trying to think! I\u2019m trying to find the right words. Probably being a good person.<\/p>\n

\t\tLike, your values?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tJust showing up for people, having good morals. Sometimes you have to do not good things to do good things, and that\u2019s in the film a lot. <\/p>\n

\t\t\u201cHow do you get in your own way?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think by being isolated a lot. The world that we live in feeds and caters and profits off isolation. I would say whenever I feel like I\u2019m in my own way, I know that I need to get out of the house or call someone. Yeah, get out, just get out in the world.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou self-isolate when you\u2019re working a lot?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s so intense. Prep for acting is usually you alone in your room talking to yourself for hours at a time. So I can sit at a caf\u00e9, but it\u2019s like I can\u2019t work through a scene at a caf\u00e9. I\u2019ve got to be alone in a space. And then you get distracted, because you have ADHD and you\u2019re like, \u201cAh!\u201d But then you get really hyper-focused, and it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

\t\tI think I know the answer to this question at this point, but \u201cwhen did you feel like you found your people?\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, yeah, probably those group of kids, I would say. It was like a coming of age. We were all figuring out what we wanted to do. We all lived really close to each other. We would appear at each other\u2019s houses unannounced. We would sit and have dinners. We would bump into each other. There was a sense of being a part of a community that you didn\u2019t have to plan for or schedule. I would just walk into my friends\u2019 houses unannounced all the time, and they would do it to me. And that was really lovely. Yeah, I really miss that.<\/p>\n

\t\tGreat job with your first sitdown interview! Wouldn\u2019t have guessed it.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s so weird talking about yourself all the time.<\/p>\n

\t\tI do feel sorry for people sometimes when I\u2019m interviewing them. It\u2019s a lot.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are worse things we have to do. There\u2019s worse things we have to do every day!<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSupergirl\u201d star Milly Alcock\u2019s first big role outside of Australia was dragon sized. As Rhaenyra Targaryen in \u201cHouse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,75145,90127],"class_list":["post-520038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-milly-alcock","tag-supergirl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}