House of the Dragon Star Reveals Advice They Got From Game of Thrones Star Emilia Clarke

By the end of House of the Dragon's first season, Emma D'Arcy had become the new face of the Game of Thrones franchise. They take that mantle from Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen for all eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Coincidentally, Daenerys is a descendant of D'Arcy's character, Rhaenyra Targaryen. Given their similarities in both look and leadership, it was easy for fans to compare the two characters, and it only made sense for D'Arcy to get some advice from Clarke about running point for the franchise.

During a roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter, D'Arcy revealed that they spoke with Clarke before beginning work on House of the Dragon, noting that the Game of Thrones star was "beautiful and generous." 

"I spoke to Emilia Clarke before I started shooting, and she was beautiful and so generous," D'Arcy said. "[She told me] loads of stuff, which honestly, I'm going to keep for myself. I'm also very lucky. That wig is a blessing; people don't recognize me, so my day-to-day is broadly unchanged, which I feel very grateful for, not least because, and maybe this is also a question, I feel that the ability to observe others and not be the observed is so fundamentally important to our job. I guess I've just really worried about that."

In addition to D'Arcy, the roundtable included Jennifer Coolidge, Jennifer Garner, Dominique Fishback, Melanie Lynskey, and Clare Danes.

House of the Dragon Season 2

It took HBO less than a week to renew House of the Dragon for a second season, after the series premiere delivered massive numbers and proved that there was still a lot of life in the Game of Thrones franchise. Production on Season 2 kicked off this spring, though it could face some challenges due to the ongoing writers' strike. 

Many productions have shut down in the midst of the draft, but House of the Dragon has pressed on. According to franchise creator and author George R.R. Martin, all of the scripts for Season 2 had been written and rewritten several times, hopefully preventing the need for any adjustments during production.

"The second season of House of the Dragon started filming April 11 and will continue in London and Wales," Martin wrote in his blog. "The scripts for the eight S2 episodes were all finished months ago, long before the strike began. Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew... and of course the dragons."

Provided there aren't any major setbacks during production, House of the Dragon will likely premiere on HBO sometime next year.