From ‘House of the Dragon’ to ‘Supergirl,’ Milly Alcock Is Still Getting Used to the Spotlight

Milly Alcock doesn’t seem all that interested in being a movie star. Sure, she’ll throw on the Supergirl suit and fly across the galaxy, but she’d be the first to tell you she’d rather skip everything that comes after. She’s someone who loves disappearing into a character far more than talking about herself, which is definitely something she has in common with her newest character.

Catching up with Amanda Hirsch on Not Skinny But Not Fat, Alcock is as funny and unfiltered as fans have come to expect, sharing the perspective of someone who’s still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she’s now the Supergirl.

Below are the highlights from the conversation, adapted from the episode.

Milly Alcock on ‘Supergirl,’ Fame, and ‘House of the Dragon’

When did you realize acting was what you wanted to do?

“It was kind of my only skill. As a child, I was really bad at school. I was held back in year two, and then I eventually dropped out of high school. It was like the only thing that I was really good at. I remember doing Little Red Rocking Hood…I remember dancing on that little stage and being like, ‘I want to feel this adrenaline for the rest of my life…’

…I did this TV show in Australia called Upright with Tim Minchin, and I was in my final year of school. I was doing my HSC. It was like, OK, I have to go and sit on my final exams while shooting this show across rural schools in Australia, or I just drop out… and I dropped out. My mum was a high school dropout, so she was like, ‘Yeah… why not?'”

How did you land ‘House of the Dragon’?

“So I was like, it was like 2019…I had, like, an art collective with my friends in Marrickville in Sydney, Australia, and we would throw warehouse parties in these different warehouses that my boyfriend at the time was living in, and then at another warehouse…It was like a very, like fun, creative, like, time, you know, we were like so broke, but it was, it was so much fun. So I was doing that, and then I got, yeah, just an email saying, like untitled HBO TV show, can you put down a tape, and I think it was, YR, which now I know was like the character name, which now I know is like Young Rhaenyra…

…And I remember going to my friend’s house, who’s also an actor, Will McDonald’s house, shooting this self-tape and he was like, this is a scene for Game of Thrones, are you auditioning for Game of Thrones, and I was like, what is Game of Thrones?”

Why didn’t you watch ‘Game of Thrones’ before your audition?

“I didn’t until I booked the part because I don’t like to…you just kind of have to really be who you are and approach it from your own unique, special, independent angle, as soon as you try and mimic something, it gets very muddied.”

How did you handle fans reacting to the time jump on ‘House of the Dragon’?

“I know it’s crazy, but apparently there’s like a theory for stuff like that. I think it’s like, it’s kind of like when you watch a rom-com. And the first person that you see the romantic interest interact with, subconsciously, your brain wants them to be together. So I think that the audience had a similar feeling towards me and Emily, me and the other younger characters. But I think Emma has done such a phenomenal job. I mean, I was just really protective of them because there’s this young actor really putting themselves out there and has done such an incredible piece of work, and for that to be diminished just over something is kind of, I don’t know, it’s like, it’s not their fault that that was the choice that was made in the way that they were writing the show.”

Why are you grateful someone told you to get an acting coach?

“Yeah, it was like my second day on set. You know, I was 21, I felt so out of my depth, and I think at the time, being that age, it just really bruised my ego, it really reinforced beliefs that I didn’t deserve to be there. I wasn’t talented enough that they would recast me. But upon reflection, you know, being a bit older and a bit more mature, it’s all to benefit the work. It’s all to benefit the body of the show that, that, that we are creating. No one is kind of trying to make me feel bad. So it was a really great learning experience, and now I work with an acting coach, so I’m really grateful that that happened.”

How are you feeling now that ‘Supergirl’ is finally about to come out?

“I’m nervous, you know, naturally, but I’m really proud of the work that everybody has done. I absolutely adore Craig Gillespie, our director, he’s put in so much heart into this film, Ana’s [Nogueira] written a beautiful, beautiful script, but it’s always scary when you do something that has like, a fandom, because in this weird way, that doesn’t normally happen for other parts, they kind of, the character belongs to them, in this really bizarre way, so you’re kind of trying to get their acceptance for this person, so yeah, I just hope that people really resonate with her, yeah.”

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How would you describe ‘Supergirl’ to someone who’s never read the comics?

“I would say this story follows Kara, who is celebrating her 23rd birthday, and she befriends a young girl, Ruthye, who’s trying to avenge something that’s happened to her family…And my dog gets sick, and we both kind of go on this…adventure across space to kind of help heal ourselves at the same time… It’s two girls dealing with trauma who don’t know how to deal with it, and they discover that they actually need each other to overcome what has happened to them.”

What do you hope audiences take away from the movie?

“I always feel like with comic book films, oftentimes, the audience is told who they should be. But this film is a really beautiful reflection of showing the audience who they are. I think it’s just really refreshing.”

You’ve said you don’t actually like attention. How does that work when you’re an actor?

“I f**king hate attention…I do this job to disappear. And I do this job because fundamentally, I find it quite difficult to be who I am. So I need to be these other people because it’s easier to comprehend somebody else’s life that’s completely laid flat out for you with a neat bow, start to finish, than it is to be a person. So, being perceived is a really difficult thing because you do it to disappear, but then you’re so visible. So that’s my kind of take. If I could act in like a different body and then take it off and live my day-to-day life and never do press and never do any of that, that would be like, my dream. I’ve never talked so much about myself until this month and I’m so sick of myself.”

What’s your favorite part of being an actor?

“You try something different and you forget. It’s almost like you get really good at creating this imaginary world inside of a world, so everybody else kind of melts away. It’s just this hyper-fixation of this moment that’s happening in real time, and you’re allowed to feel everything. That’s my favorite part.”

To hear the full conversation, listen to Not Skinny But Not Fat wherever you get your podcasts.

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