Emma D'Arcy
Emma D’Arcy is a non-binary actor and theatre-maker who studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art.
Emma’s leads as Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, HBO’s prequel to Game of Thrones, alongside Olivia Cooke, Paddy Considine and Matt Smith. House of the Dragon is available to stream in the UK on NowTV. Following their sensational performance, Emma was nominated for the 2023 Golden Globes Best Television Actress award.
Further screen credits include Wanderlust for Netflix/BBC, Truth Seekers and Hanna II for Amazon Prime, Wild Bill for ITV and Philippa Lowthorpe’s feature film Misbehaviour. They produced and starred in the BIFA-nominated short The Talent by Thomas May-Bailey, which has been brilliantly received on the 2024 festival circuit.
Emma appeared in Mothering Sunday, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2021, alongside Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Josh O’Connor, and Odessa Young.
Emma’s stage credits include The Crucible at the Yard Theatre, Against at the Almeida Theatre, A Girl in School Uniform (Walks Into a Bar) at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Mrs Dalloway and Callisto: A Queer Epic at Arcola Theatre. They led in Bluets at the Royal Court Theatre, alongside Ben Whishaw, and in The Other Place (after Antigone) at the National Theatre, alongside Tobias Menzies and Nina Sosanya. Emma has been nominated for the 2025 WhatsOnStage award Best Performance in a Play for their astounding performance in the latter.
Emma is @emmaziadarcy on Instagram. They are repped by Clair Dobbs at CLD Communications for publicity.
The Other Place
Emma’s searing leading performance is singled out for praise amidst near-universal acclaim for Zeldin’s The Other Place at the NT.
★★★★★
WhatsOnStage ‘D’Arcy makes Annie’s desire for justice, for poles to cling to in a frightening world, profoundly moving and empathetic’
Broadway World ‘D’Arcy rises to the challenge of Annie with [remarkable] facility’
★★★★☆
Guardian ‘D’Arcy lights up the stage with an authenticity that feels searing’
Telegraph ‘D’Arcy is electrifying in this brilliant modern take on Antigone’ / ‘Annie, played with electrifying intransigence’
Standard ‘[D’Arcy is] massively impactful. I was riveted by their grieving stillness, their understated delivery of devastating lines.’
The Stage ‘D’Arcy gives a powerful central performance as Annie’
HOTD S2
Reviews for House of the Dragon S2 ahead of the wide release on 16 June
Bluets
Emma will star opposite Kayla Meikle (ear for eye), and Ben Whishaw (Cock, James Bond, This is Going to Hurt, Paddington) will star in an adaptation of Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, which runs from 17 May — 29 June. The story, adapted for the stage by Margaret Perry (Paradise Now!, Porcelain, Collapsible) and directed by Katie Mitchell (Little Scratch, Anatomy of a Suicide), is about depression and desire, pleasure and pain, and a person possessed by an obsession with the colour blue.
Emma D’Arcy said: “This production of Bluets combines some of my all-time favourite artists with my all-time favourite colour. I’m a huge fan of Maggie Nelson. If anyone can translate her work to the stage, it’s Katie Mitchell and Margaret Perry. And I’m delighted to be a part of David Byrne’s first season at The Court! What an adventure.”
'Emma D'Arcy is the moment'
Emma’s look at the 2023 Golden Globes delights and stuns, while also expressing that their nomination ‘implies that the space for trans people and gender-nonconforming people is getting bigger all the time.’
‘I’m also doing trans because I’m wearing some trousers and a skirt at the same time. And nothing says non-binary like wearing both a skirt and trousers.’
British Vogue – Emma D’Arcy Makes An Outstanding Debut At The 2023 Golden Globes
People – Emma D’Arcy Says Golden Globes Nod Came After They ‘Stopped Pretending’
Independent – Emma D’Arcy praised for ‘stunning’ Golden Globes look: ‘My jaw is on the floor’
Golden Globes
House of the Dragon wins best Drama Series at the 2023 Golden Globes
Golden Globes
Emma has been nominated for Best Television Actress award at the Golden Globes 2023. This follows their winning the #1 IMDB Breakout Star award 2022, and #2 for IMDB’s Star of 2022.
Emma D'Arcy's GQ interview
GQ – ‘one thing is clear: the series has gone out on a high note’
Reviews for HOTD finale
The New York Times – ‘The episode was a showcase for Emma D’Arcy, who was brilliant throughout’
The Telegraph – ‘an electrifyingly restrained Emma D’Arcy’
Esquire – ‘D’Arcy’s ability to balance anguish, gentleness and determination has been one of the best things about this season’s second half’
Indian Times – ‘Powerful, poignant’
Sunday Times Culture
As the final episode of season one airs, a round-up of great reviews for Emma in HOTD and their interview with the Sunday Times
Reviews are in for HOTD
The Times – ★★★★★
The Guardian – ★★★★
BBC – ★★★★
FT – ★★★★
The Telegraph – ★★★★
Daily Mail – ★★★★
NME – ★★★★
Evening Standard – ★★★★
Empire – ‘Emma D’Arcy is excellent’
London Premiere
Emma’s Red Carpet look at the HOTD premiere, London
Entertainment Weekly
Read Emma’s interview with Entertainment Weekly here ahead of HOTD’s Aug 21 launch.
House of the Dragon teaser
The official teaser for House of the Dragon has been released. The long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel releases on HBO Max on 21 August.
First look photos of HBO's House of the Dragon
Emma is seen here for the first time in their role as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen alongside co-star Matt Smith (as Prince Daemon Targaryen) in first look photos in House of the Dragon. The HBO original series is coming to screens in 2022.
Emma D’Arcy in HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon
“Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. The king’s first-born child. She is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything…but she was not born a man.” HBO
The Crucible Reviews
Reviews for The Crucible at the Yard Theatre are in!
- “For her part, D’Arcy is riveting. The complexity of thought she transmits in each minute facial movement extends beyond what we’ve come to expect from normal human expression. Her face is a canvas, at once painted with acute realism from within by a mind in full mastery of empathy and beheld from without by her audience, transfixed. Ever searching, never still and heartachingly human. She is the partner whose heart you’ve broken. She is the mother desperate to protect her children. And she is, unequivocally, Goody Proctor.” The Upcoming
- “Dunne’s John and Emma D’Arcy’s Elizabeth Proctor share a tender chemistry, which warms up a show that sometimes feels too calculated. D’Arcy also plays one of the agitating locals in a clever doubling that reminds us that we all carry aspects of other characters inside.” The Guardian
- “Emma D’Arcy has an intimate power as Elizabeth Proctor, and there’s a later quiet intenstity to Sorcha Groundsell as Mary Warren” The Arts Desk
- “Caoilfhionn Dunne plays the leading role of John Proctor, and both she and Emma D’Arcy, who plays Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, shine in this production.” What’s on Stage
- “Caolifhionn Dunne does a magnificent turn as John Proctor, having delicious chemistry with Elizabeth (played by Emma D’Arcy).” Broadway World
- “Emma D’Arcy is equally compelling as Procter’s wife Elizabeth.” Evening Standard
- “Emma D’Arcy is equally good as Proctor’s wife Elizabeth, coldly prim initially, then rock-hard and resolute when accusations of witchcraft are flung at her” The Stage
- “Imaginative staging, with nice use of sound and lighting, invites us to ponder modern parallels. For a country divided against itself, The Crucible is a sobering reminder of the ease with which people can allow themselves to be deceived.” Hackney Citizen
Reviews for Mrs Dalloway
Reviews for Mrs Dalloway at the Arcola are in:
- “D’Arcy is sharp and suggestive in her shape-shifting between many roles” Time Out
- ” Emma D’Arcy is a powerhouse in several roles, turning on a coin: as Septimus’ Italian wife Rezia, her face becomes red and blotchy with concern, and as soon as she’s Clarissa’s sullen, quick-speaking daughter Elizabeth we laugh before she even speaks.” Exeunt Magazine
- “Yet while these two are the key figures, the most striking performance comes from Emma D’Arcy as Septimus’s frustrated, vulnerable wife Lucrezia.” Evening Standard
- ” Emma D’Arcy as Septimus’ wife Lucrezia and other characters darted through the piece, offering pointed and sharp lines and movements that brought energy and pace to everything.” The Reviewers Hub
- “This is a creative and sophisticated production on all fronts, well crafted and beautifully delivered.” The Spy in the Stalls
- “Mrs Dalloway is an enthralling, brave piece of theatre.” Love London Love Culture
- “This adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel is presented with stylish simplicity and theatrical flair.” British Theatre Guide
- “The five-strong cast gracefully flit between their array of different characters.” The Stage
Mrs Dalloway
Emma will be playing Rezia in Mrs Dalloway at the Arcola.
Wanderlust on BBC One
Emma has been cast in the BBC One series Wanderlust. Starring alongside Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh, this series will air this Autumn.
Reviews in for 'Against'
First wave of reviews are in Christopher Shinn’s new play Against, directed by Ian Rickson at the Almeida Theatre.
The press on Emma and Against:
- “Emma D’Arcy’s nuanced performance as Anna, one of Luke’s vulnerable disciples, makes it hard to believe she is a new name in theatre.: 4 stars, Kate Kellaway, The Observer
- “What makes it worth sticking with are the performances from a cast who often play multiple roles with conviction and passion.: Sarah Crompton, What’s On Stage
- “[Whishaw’s] quiet energy is well supported by the rest of a large ensemble cast lots of praise to Emma D’Arcy some marvellous moments of wry humour and acute emotional insight. It’s one of the best examples of new writing at present on the London stage.” Aleks Sierz, The Arts Desk
- “A fantastic and fascinating ensemble elevates the script. Excellent work, too, from Emma D’Arcy” Tim Bano, The Stage
- “An excellent cast fills in the blanks of Shinn’s characters. Emma D’Arcy is superb as the awkward college student deeply affected by Luke: Marianka Swain, Broadway World
- “There are plenty of amusing digressions, especially satirical interludes featuring idealistic college student Anna (Emma D’Arcy) having tense tutorial sessions with her narcissistic, painfully PC creative-writing teacher” Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter
Emma D'Arcy rehearsing for 'Against'
Emma D’Arcy joins the cast of Ian Rickson’s Against.
Emma will play a supporting role in the production, at the Almeida, from the 12th of August to the 30th of September.
'A Girl In School Uniform (Walks into a Bar)'
Following successful runs at the Leeds Hub and West Yorkshire Playhouse, A Girl in School Uniform (Walks into a Bar), returns to the West Yorkshire Playhouse for a limited run in April 2017.
'Too Much Love'
Emma D’Arcy stars as the lead in music video Too Much Love for Domino records’s Little Cub. The video, directed by Lily Rose Thomas, can be seen here.
'Callisto: A Queer Epic' transfers to London
Following a successful run at Edinburgh Fringe 2016, Callisto: A Queer Epic transfers to the Arcola Theatre for a week-long run.
Emma D'Arcy in 'A Girl in School Uniform (Walks into a Bar)'
Emma D’Arcy will star in A Girl In School Uniform (Walks into a Bar) at the Hub in Leeds and then at the West Yorkshire Playhouse this September.
Reviews for 'Callisto: A Queer Epic'
Emma D’Arcy stars in Callisto: A Queer Epic, at Edinburgh Fringe 2016.
The press on Emma and Callisto:
- “Ingenue Tammy, played charmingly by Emma D’Arcy…” 4 stars, Louise Jones, Broadway Baby
- “Eight actors play multiple parts and personalities that cross every boundary imaginable, and each does so with great skill and sensitivity…[an] exceptional cast with an eye toward invention, pushing boundaries, and tugging heartstrings.” 5 stars, Theatre Eddys
- “The acting from Forward Arena is magnificent.” 5 Stars, Zander Bruce, Scots Gay
- “The performances…were uniformly brilliant” Gemma Scott, ThreeWeeks
- “The cast tackle it with confidence”, Sally Stott, The Scotsman
- “Sharp, slick, precise” 4 Stars, Alexander Hartley, Theatre Bubble
- “Despite the serious subject matter, the cast are able to inject some levity, making this a stellar performance.” The Broad UK
Emma D'Arcy at Edinburgh Festival 2016
Emma D’Arcy will be performing in two productions at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.
Callisto: A Queer Epic and Children and Animals are both directed by Thomas Bailey, and are playing at the Pleasance Dome from 3rd – 29th August.
Reviews for Emma D'Arcy in 'Clickbait'
Emma D’Arcy played Kat in Milly Thomas’ Clickbait, directed by Holly Race-Roughan.
The production ran at Theatre503 from 19th January – 13th February 2016.
The press on Emma in Clickbait:
- “Kat, vividly played by Emma D’Arcy” Sally Hales, Exeunt
- “Emma D’arcy…emerges with…acting credit” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
Emma D'Arcy praised for performance in 'Pillowman'
Emma D’Arcy played Michael in Martin McDonagh’s Pillowman, directed by Thomas Bailey, at the Oxford Playhouse.
The production received glowing reviews, with Emma singled out for particular praise in several publications.
The press on Emma in Pillowman:
- “The show’s finest performance comes from D’Arcy…whose writhing, fidgeting, drooling, shrieking portrayal of Michal is simultaneously endearing, amusing and incredibly annoying. It takes real skill to not present a mentally disabled character in a cliched, arguably offensive way, and D’Arcy deserves enormous credit for her ability to steer clear of this trap without leaving Michal’s fundamental characteristics behind.” – Fergus Morgan, Reviews Hub
- “Emma D’Arcy’s performance was nothing short of virtuosic.” William Aslet, Oxford Student
- “the acting…is first-rate throughout. Bowman and D’Arcy’s long scene charting the explosive, changing relationship between the brothers is riveting” Giles Woodforde, Oxford Times
- “Emma D’Arcy’s performance as Michal is a masterclass in physical and verbal control” Benedict Morrison, The Oxonian Review
- “D’Arcy’s performance is troubling and uncomfortable to watch, but the audience is compelled to keep watching. Michal’s dark nature and playful sense of humour offset each other throughout, and D’Arcy treads that line skilfully.” Stage Talk Magazine