‘It might never get any better than this’: Milly Alcock stays grounded among the rising stars at House Of The Dragon premiere

Aussie darling Milly Alcock reveals how she’s keeping things real as she hits the big-time with the Game Of Thrones prequel and braves the black carpet at its all-star world premiere.

Actor Milly Alcock is hanging on tight.

Stepping out today for the world premiere of the much-anticipated Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, the rising Australian star is aware her life is about to change dramatically.

“I got really fortunate with this cast in the fact that not only is everybody incredibly talented but everybody is incredibly kind,” Alcock told News Corp Australia ahead of walking the black carpet alongside her big-name co-stars in Los Angeles.

Big stars and new names ... Milly Alcock with House Of The Dragon co-stars Fabien Frankel (left) and Rhys Ifans at the show’s world premiere in Los Angeles. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO

Dragons and Dresses: All the pics from House Of The Dragon premiere

The screening followed a whirlwind week of international media interviews, appearances before thousands of hardcore fans at Comic-Con and other engagements.

“As a lot of us are quite new actors to something this big,” said the 22-year-old, originally from Sydney. “This is a completely new experience for all of us and a world that we didn’t think we would ever get the privilege of stepping into so I am just trying to enjoy it all because it might get bigger than this and this could become normal and how beautiful that this is my first moment. Or it might never get any better than this. I am holding on tight … I want to sit in this feeling for a bit. I want to process it and try not to get too overwhelmed with the what ifs of it all.”

Pausing to process it all ... Aussie Milly Alcock steps out on the House Of The Dragon black carpet in LA. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO.

Among other cast members joining her at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures premiere on Wednesday night US time (Thursday, Australia time) were British stars Matt Smith, Eve Best, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Paddy Considine, Emily Carey and Steve Toussaint.

The significance of the moment is not lost on Alcock, until recently a comparative unknown, who has been working on the blockbuster TV project for more than a year. She has featured heavily in pre-promotion of the series and was pictured solo on the first major promo images for the production when they were released last month.

She’s a power player now ... but Milly Alcock still wants to enjoy the moment. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO.

House Of The Dragon, which premieres express from the US in Australia on Binge and Foxtel on August 22, is set nearly 200 years before the events of the original Game Of Thrones. In it, Alcock plays a young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryan.

In Australia, she has become known for her work on hit Foxtel series Upright and has also appeared in Janet King, Fighting Season and A Place To Call Home.

Royal flush ... Milly Alcock with her fellow Dragon stars, all of whom play powerful women: (L-R) Eve Best, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Emily Carey. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO.

“I don’t think anyone can prepare for a life change,” she said. “It is not like I am going through something that a lot of people have experienced and so I think that there is an element that is quite daunting about that but I think that is why we are trying to lean on each other as a cast.”

Meanwhile fashion insiders watching the premiere event have predicted that just as the original Game Of Thrones influenced popular culture across the board, the world of House Of The Dragon is expected to flow through into other areas.

‘Incredibly kind’ ... Milly Alcock hugs it out with her cast-mates at the House Of The Dragon premiere. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO.

“We’ll always be drawn to the complexities and dramas of on-screen characters, and given fashion is about the construction of characters too, it makes sense there’ll continue to be a direct influence from screen to wardrobe,” Vogue Australia’s Alice Birrell said. “Spurred on by the time we all spent indoors in the pandemic, our TV shows, e-games and movies are undeniably blurring the line further between entertainment and what we buy for our wardrobes — so expect the same for House Of The Dragon.”

Birrell predicted a return to “capes, corsets, embroidered appliqué, maxi lengths and possibly mythical creatures on the runway” off the back of the series.

Embrace dressing in drag(on) ... fancy a cape, corset and new-look pet?

“If you don’t think dragons have much to do with fashion, you only need to look to Gucci in 2018 when a sleeping baby version was clutched by a model, alongside severed heads (a Ned Stark tribute?),” Birrell noted. “With GOT’s costume embroiderer referencing couture techniques in her work, don’t be surprised if you’re spotting elements of McQueen, Rick Owens and Christian Dior once again on screen.”

Australian fashion designer Michael Lo Sordo agreed that the world is watching not just the red carpet but looking at how the costumes on screen will translate to everyday life.

Get your style game on ... Emilia Clarke as Khaleesi in the original GoT.

“The influence a main character can have, for instance Khaleesi’s wardrobe of gauzy dresses and strategic cutouts in Game of Thrones, inspired collections from designers around the world,” Lo Sordo said. “With shows like GOT, the fashion spectacles are only getting better. I think there will always be an inherent relationship between the two industries.”

House of the Dragon will be available to stream on BINGE and watch on FOXTEL in 4K at the same time as the US, from 11am AEST on Monday, August 22. And you can catch up on all the original Game Of Thrones seasons on either platform.