House of the Dragon star Emma D'Arcy reacts to TikTok's viral 'Negroni' meme. D'Arcy took over the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen from Milly Alcock in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 6, "The Princess and the Queen," portraying the adult version of the princess after a 10-year time jump. The prolific actor, along with Olivia Cooke, who plays the adult version of Queen Alicent, has earned plenty of praise for their take on Rhaenyra, with viewers already clamoring for Emmy nominations for both D'Arcy and Cooke. As the drama and conflict between the two former best friends brews, it's likely that viewers will be seeing much more of D'Arcy and Cooke's powerhouse performances as House of the Dragon moves closer to its finale.
Viewers haven't just taken to social media to praise D'Arcy and their co-stars. On TikTok in particular, users have begun to spread an amusing clip of D'Arcy from an HBO Max video in which they and Cooke ask one another random questions. When Cooke pulled the question, "What's your drink of choice?" for D'Arcy, the actor replied "a Negroni," and then, cutting Cooke off as she started to respond, "Sbagliato... with Prosecco in it," to which Cooke replied, "Stunning." The clip has taken off in LGBTQ+ spaces on TikTok in particular, with users sharing stitches of the stilted phrase and lusting after D'Arcy, even leading food blogs, Buzzfeed News, and NPR to share recipes for the drink.
While speaking with The New York Times, the House of the Dragon star comments on the 'Negroni' meme, saying that they feel "so embarrassed" by the new trend. D'Arcy also offers some behind the scenes insight to the press circuit interviews that they have attended with Cooke since House of the Dragon launched, admitting that the viral quote simply came from trying to make their co-star laugh. Check out what D'Arcy says below:
"I keep thinking I should tell my mum that I've become a meme in the hope that she'll be happy for me, but I'd have to explain what a meme is, and I've decided it's too much effort. I feel so embarrassed. Because in those interviews, when we've been at it for six hours, I'm honestly only trying to make Olivia [Cooke] laugh."
House of the Dragon Continues The Tradition Of GoT Memes
The viral Negroni meme shows that House of the Dragon is continuing a long Game of Thrones legacy: that of the Internet meme. The countless Game of Thrones memes included posts that poked fun of Bran's role (or lack thereof) in season 8 and the dark, nearly impossible to watch "Long Night" battle. They also used facial expressions and stills from the show, such as Jon Snow coming back to life and Olenna Tyrell pleading with Jaime to "tell Cersei..." Though it seems silly to point to viral moments and online jokes as metrics of a show's success, Internet memes prove that a series is being talked about and continues to be relevant in pop culture, for better or for worse. House of the Dragon fans continuing the tradition of creating memes based on both the series and the actors bodes well for the show's popularity moving forward.
D'Arcy's reaction to the meme reveals a sweet origin behind the now-viral moment, since they were simply trying to get Cooke to crack a smile. The two stars' close bond is certainly a reason for the chemistry they share in the series, which will make the inevitable destruction of their characters' relationship all the more tragic. After an affectionate moment between Rhaenyra and Alicent in episode 8, the House of the Dragon episode 9 trailer teases an action-packed penultimate installment, making it likely that the princess and the queen consort's complicated history together will be getting messier very soon.
Source: The New York Times