Aussie actor Milly Alcock has opened the door on her modest* life before global fame, revealing she lived in a tiny attic* room before landing her first major Hollywood role.
In an interview with Variety magazine, the Sydney-born actor revealed that her life wasn’t always glamorous.
When she starred in the Australian TV series Upright, the then 18-year-old was still living at home with her family.
“I was living in the attic in my family home because we didn’t have enough rooms – it was so hot in there,” Alcock said.
To earn cash between acting gigs, the early school leaver also took a job as a dishwasher at a popular eatery at trendy Marrickville in Sydney’s Inner West.
It was inside that same cramped attic space that Alcock completed a series of digital auditions* for the Game of Thrones prequel* series House of the Dragon, all held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic* travel restrictions.
She landed the breakout role of young Rhaenyra Targaryen while still working her kitchen shifts and living out of the roof.
“I never thought this would happen to me,” Alcock told Stellar magazine.
“I was washing dishes in a restaurant, living in my mum’s attic. This (big break) doesn’t happen to people like me, so it was incredibly quick. I froze and took a deep breath …
“Then I called my mum.”
Alcock later showed the cramped space to social media star Caleb Simpson during a video tour on TikTok.
She led the camera up a pullout ladder through a ceiling trapdoor to reveal the tiny bedroom where she spent years chasing her big break.
The space featured sweet string rainbow lights, piles of books, a single bed low to the floor and a bare light bulb hanging from an exposed ceiling beam.
“This is where all of your hopes and dreams were dreamed up,” Simpson said.
“It is a bit magical,” Alcock replied, noting the production team on House of the Dragon mocked her during her initial digital tryouts because of the cheap wall decorations.
The actor revealed the rest of the suburban home was adorned with an array of local road signs that her mother had collected over a 15-year period.
Alcock was inside the property when she received a text message from DC Studios co-chief executive James Gunn confirming she had won the lead role in Supergirl.
“Milly is a fantastically talented young actor, and I’m incredibly excited about her being a part of the DCU*,” Gunn said on social media at the time.
Alcock told Elle magazine that the news left her in disbelief.
“I was initially like, ‘What have I done?’” she said.
“I then invited all my friends over to the house (to celebrate).”
The film opens in Australian cinemas in June and also stars Jason Momoa, Eva Ridley and David Corenswet.
Alcock told Variety she was thrilled to take on the major comic book character for a new generation of viewers.
“I am so excited for all the young women who are going to see this,” she said.
Alcock travelled to the UK, where much of the filming for the movie took place, with reports emerging at the time that she had moved into an apartment in London’s celebrity hotspot Primrose Hill.
However, she has since revealed that she relocated to East London, where she is still understood to be based.
Parts of this story first appeared in Realtor and were republished with permission.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- attic: often small and with a sloped ceiling because it its under the roof, this space or room at the top of a building is often used for storing things
- modest: not large in size or amount, or not expensive
- auditions: a short performance that an actor, musician, dancer, etc. gives in order to show they are suitable for a particular play, film, show
- prequel: a film, book, or play that develops the story of an earlier work by telling you what happened before the events in the first work
- DCU: DC Universe, which is now DC Studios
EXTRA READING
Comics to the rescue for young readers
Superheroes here to save you from your fears
Superhero night vision for humans
QUICK QUIZ
1. Milly Alcock hails from which Australian capital city?
2. Her breakout role was as which character in which hit drama series?
3. Alcock won the title role of which soon-to-be-released blockbuster?
4. Is the comic book superhero franchise she’s joined owned by DC or Marvel?
5. Alcock’s mum had an unusual collection items displayed at home – what were they?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What happened before?
“Then I called my mum.”
Write a story that ends with this sentence.
Time: allow at least 25 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
What is the most inspiring thing about Milly’s story for anyone chasing a dream that might seem impossible? Use information from the story to create a resource (your own choice) that will help motivate other kids
Time: allow at least 20 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability
VCOP ACTIVITY
Create a comic
Now you have written your story, imagine it’s being turned into a comic book like DC comic Supergirl. Choose the most important scenes in your story and draw at least two cartoon panels that help tell the story.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking