Matt Smith cleverly corrected an interviewer who muffed the pronouns of his nonbinary “House of the Dragon” co-star, Emma D’Arcy.
Smith was speaking to Sue Perkins, the host of Sky’s fan show “House of the Dragon: War Room,” at the London premiere of “House of the Dragon’s” second season. Discussing the climactic moment in the Season 1 finale when Smith’s character, Daemon, informs D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra about the death of her son, Perkins tells Smith that “she gave you all the credit.”
D’Arcy, however, uses they/them pronouns, something Smith made sure to include when he responded.
“I can’t take the credit, [but] I have to say, aren’t they brilliant?” he said. “They are absolutely brilliant and you’re in for a real treat with Emma this year, I think Emma’s put in a really great performance.”
D’Arcy has previously spoken out about the pressure to conform to others’ expectations and preferences in the spotlight.
“When I was starting out, I really felt that I had to present as a woman in order to find success in this industry,” they told E! News at the 2023 Golden Globes. “It wasn’t sustainable, and I stopped pretending.”
D’Arcy has plenty of support in Smith and has found success all on their own — becoming the only “House of the Dragon” actor to be nominated for a Golden Globe, despite appearing in less than half of Season 1.
The interaction also proves that there’s far more to Smith than the violent man he plays onscreen.
“Daemon sort of thrives on chaos,” Smith told The Times in 2023. “There’s an element of him that’s walking on a tightrope made of glass, and he loves that he could fall off at any time. He operates on his own sort of strange and often violent plane. But to him, the violence is not gratuitous. He’s not doing it clumsily, he’s doing it with purpose and precision.”
Fortunately for D’Arcy, and fans of the former “Doctor Who” actor around the world, Smith is much more lovable in real life than the “Dragon” character he portrays.
“House of the Dragon” Season 2 premieres June 16 on HBO and the streaming service Max.
