The House of the Dragon Season 3 Cast, Explained

No sooner had the dust settled on the fantastic Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, than a new trailer for Season 3 of the franchise’s other prequel show, House of the Dragon, dropped, exciting us for another return to Westeros in a different time and place.

When we last left this show, the Dance of the Dragons was poised to explode. With Alicent Hightower and the Greens desperately clinging onto the throne and Rhaenyra fighting to take back what is rightfully hers, the tug-of-war has already cost plenty of lives, and so much more carnage is still to come.

We know the key figures from Season 2 will be back for the next instalment, while a few new faces will be joining the House of the Dragon cast for Season 3. With all that in mind, here’s all you need to know about the actors bringing these complex characters to life.

The Main Players in the House of the Dragon Season 3 Cast

Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen

Emma D’Arcy hadn’t done much in the industry before landing this career-changing role as the heir to the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra Targaryen. Fairly prominent supporting roles in TV shows Wanderlust and Truth Seekers are certainly worth a mention, though. D’Arcy performed alongside Toni Collette in the former and Nick Frost in the latter.

There is one exciting project on the horizon for D’Arcy, too. They are appearing in the upcoming Alejandro G. Iñárritu movie, Digger. It’s a currently unknown role for D’Arcy, but we know they’ll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Sandra Hüller in what could be one of the most interesting projects of 2026.

Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen

From one performer who hasn’t really forged much of a career yet to another who has absolutely dominated for the last decade: Matt Smith is a bona fide star. Before playing the nefarious Daemon Targaryen, the British actor made his name when he took on the iconic role of the Doctor in Doctor Who.

That took up a good few years, but since then, Smith has been in gritty indie movies like Lost River and His House, as well as appearing in franchise blockbusters like Terminator: Genisys and Morbius – though the less said about those two, the better… More positively, he’s also had the privilege of working with acclaimed filmmakers like Edgar Wright and Darren Aronofsky on Last Night in Soho and Caught Stealing, while also finding time to star as Prince Philip in The Crown.

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower

For me, Olivia Cooke is the best actor in the House of the Dragon cast. Not only is she fantastic as the emotionally conflicted Alicent Hightower in this show, but she’s also displayed outstanding range across her career in several very different roles outside of the world of Thrones. For a start, you should check out her breakthrough in 2015’s Me, Earl and the Dying Girl – it’s a really sweet, sad young adult dramedy, and the first time I really paid attention to Cooke.

From there, she’s taken on much darker roles in films like Thoroughbreds, Sound of Metal, and the TV show The Girlfriend. But that doesn’t mean she’s stopped having fun with her work. Cooke also had a big role in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and featured in the hit Apple TV show, Slow Horses. One underrated gem she’s also been in is a film called Little Fish, where she and Jack O’Connell played a young couple destined for tragedy.

Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen

Giving Daemon Targaryen a run for his money as the nastiest man in Westeros, Ewan Mitchell has seen his career skyrocket since appearing as Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon. However, he’d done some really interesting work before this, and has so much potential for more, too.

You may have seen Mitchell in the Robert Pattinson-led, dark sci-fi thriller, High Life. More likely – especially if you’re a fan of Thrones anyway – is that you’ll recognise him from another historical epic TV show, The Last Kingdom. Since catching the eye as Aemond, Mitchell has collaborated with Emerald Fennell twice – first in the divisive Saltburn, and then more recently in a supporting role in the even more controversial “Wuthering Heights”.

Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon II Targaryen

He may be the current king, but Aegon II has largely been pushed out of the spotlight by his mean-spirited brother. However, in real life, actor Tom Glynn-Carney has been in a handful of really great movies, which is the least he deserves given he’s such an impressive actor.

Very early on in his career, Glynn-Carney bagged a role in Christopher Nolan’s war movie, Dunkirk, where he played Peter, who you may remember being on that little boat with Mark Rylance and Barry Keoghan, wearing a lovely turtleneck jumper. He’s clearly got a thing for period pictures, having also popped up in Tolkien, The Book of Clarence, and the Netflix movie The King, where, ironically, he was very much against the ruler of the kingdom.

Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower

We round out the main cast of House of the Dragon with a man who really needs no introduction. Rhys Ifans has been in film and television since the early ‘90s and has now amassed over 80 credits. He really came to prominence around the turn of the millennium, though, appearing in the rom-com Notting Hill, the hilarious Kevin & Perry Go Large as Eyeball Paul, and in the Adam Sandler flick, Little Nicky.

After that, he really proved his range, going from the period drama Vanity Fair, to the horror movie Hannibal Rising, to the sci-fi flick Mr Nobody, and the family movie Nanny McPhee Returns. There’s really nothing this guy can’t do, whether it’s playing a man-lizard hybrid in The Amazing Spider-Man or doing his best Russian accent in The King’s Man. He’s an actor who always seems to throw himself into a role, and none more so than when he’s playing the scheming Otto Hightower.

Other Returning Cast Members for House of the Dragon Season 3

Outside of the main players, there are a whole host of familiar faces returning for the action once again. Judging by the trailer, Steve Toussaint appears to be taking on a more important role as Lord Corlys, but he’s had quite the small-screen run before this, appearing in the likes of It’s a Sin, Small Axe, and Before We Die.

We’ll also get more of Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Matthew Needham as the sneaky Larys Strong, and Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria. The latter has been in a lot of brilliant films and TV shows – she’s a frequent collaborator of Alex Garland’s, having appeared in Ex Machina and Annihilation, as well as bit-part roles in La La Land and Beauty and the Beast.

Young actors Harry Collett, Phia Saban, Bethany Antonia and Phoebe Campbell will all return to play Jacaerys Velaryon, Helaena Targaryen, and Targaryen sisters Baela and Rhaena.

New Faces in the House of the Dragon Season 3 Cast

As any good show should, House of the Dragon will also keep things moving forward with a bunch of new characters and actors joining this season. 

James Norton, who you’ll recognise from Little Women, is playing Ormund Hightower. Meanwhile, Dan Fogler, who had a key role in the Fantastic Beasts movies, is on board as Ser Torrhen Manderly.

We’ll also see screen stalwart Tommy Flanagan join the cast as Ser Roderick Dustin. You’ll almost certainly have seen him in something before, with key roles in the likes of Sons of Anarchy, Power Book IV: Force, and supporting roles in big screen classics like Braveheart, Gladiator, Face/Off, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Other new actors involved include Annie Shapero, Tom Cullen, Barry Sloane, and Joplin Sibtain, who was absolutely excellent as Brasso in Andor.

House of the Dragon returns in June 2026. You can watch it on Sky Atlantic or with a Now TV subscription.