Here’s the iconic role that helped Emma D’Arcy come out

In an exclusive interview with GQ, House of Dragons star Emma D’Arcy revealed how playing Romeo in the Shakespeare tragedy Romeo and Juliet expanded how they view their gender identity.

“It’s interesting, I suppose, because I didn’t have any language for this… gender battle taking place in my body,” they told GQ. “That only reached me when I came to London, and I was in my early twenties.”

D’Arcy has previously been open about the complex relationship between their gender identity and the roles that they’ve taken on, detailing how their roles have influenced them.

emma d'arcy as romeo in ‘romeo and juliet’ pic.twitter.com/hQfBuJDq8f

— emma d’arcy daily (@emmadarcydaily) July 16, 2024

Romeo and Juliet in particular was an exciting chance for gender-f*ckery. This was before their days on television – when they were in plays for London’s Southwark Playhouse, portraying Romeo but playing the romantic lead as a woman.

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Their recent roles have helped them become more comfortable in their gender identity, to a point where “it doesn’t feel very complicated any more. And yet, inevitably, I’ve met a lot of genderfluid, nonbinary and trans actors, and there are several in House of the Dragon. It’s nice, because while I’m at work, I take really seriously the attempt to expand and improve the working structures to support genderfluid people.”