House of the Dragon Scores an Emmy Nomination, but Its Actors Are Shut Out

This year’s Emmy nominations marked a great day for HBO, with both The Last of Us and Succession making history. And while House of the Dragon got some attention too, it was also shut out in a surprising place.

While House of the Dragon got an Emmy nomination for best drama series, none of its actors received any nods for their respective performances. That’s a little surprising given how celebrated its cast is; actors like Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Paddy Considine, and Olivia Cooke were praised throughout last year’s first season. And while performers like D’Arcy and Smith will have chances with upcoming seasons, others – like Milly Alcock, who played a younger version of Rhaenyra Targaryen before D’Arcy took over – likely won’t, barring flashbacks.

IGN was among the many to praise House of the Dragon’s actors during that first season, with Helen O’Hara calling out in our 9/10 review the “wildly overqualified” cast: “Paddy Considine is an actor who can’t help but draw you in, so his Viserys – even in moments of selfishness or foolishness – remained sympathetic throughout,” she wrote.

Still, the acting categories, particularly the lead actor in a drama category, were probably too crowded to include many entries from House of the Dragon’s large ensemble cast. Succession took up three slots in lead drama actor with Brian Cox, Kiernan Culkin, and Jeremy Strong, and Pedro Pascal also scored a nod for his work in The Last of Us.

Plus, House of the Dragon wasn’t the only surprising genre snub in the acting categories; while Obi-Wan Kenobi somewhat surprisingly managed to score a nomination for limited series, Ewan McGregor’s performance was not recognized by the TV Academy.

Other surprising acting snubs include Diego Luna for Andor (although the series itself was nominated), Elizabeth Olsen for limited series Love & Death and Harrison Ford for Apple TV+’s Shrinking.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.