BBC child star Emily Carey has landed a huge role in Game of Thrones prequel House of Dragon, 10 years after first starring in the BBC drama

Child actress Emily Carey has landed a huge role in House of Dragon, 10 years after starring in Casualty.

Emily first appeared on our screens playing Connie Beachamp’s daughter Grace in the hospital drama. Since then the actress has gone on to star as the young Lara Croft in Tomb Raider film in 2018, the young Wonder Woman in the 2017 film and HBO’s House of Dragon.

The actress starred as Alicent Hightower, the daughter of the King’s Hand who marries the royal and goes on to have a son who she hopes will be the next heir to the Iron Throne. Emily was then replaced by Olivia Cooke following a time jump.

“I can’t even comprehend that people know me,” she told RadioTimes.com. “Even when people compliment my work or I get recognised, which is few and far between, it completely catches me off guard. I’m like, ‘Oh, I forgot people watched that.’”

Emily starred as Connie Beachamp’s daughter Grace (Image:BBC)

Emily revealed that working on House of Dragon was a “surreal” experience and she “blacked out” in the lead-up to the release. “I don’t really know how I handled it. No one ever prepares you for it. There’s no guidebook. You can talk to people who have been there and done that, but this was different and strange,” she added.

The actress’ most recent project was Netflix’s Geek Girl – the highly anticipated adaptation of Holly Smales’ popular YA novel series. Last year, after it was revealed she was involved in the project, Emily shared a snap from the film set.

She wrote: “‘My name is Harriet Manners and I am a geek.’ These books gave me so much comfort growing up so to be involved in this adaptation alongside such a truly wonderful team is pure JOY. Harriet is very close to my heart, thank you @holsmale for trusting me with her, you know how much i adore & admire you.”

Speaking about the teen drama that tackles neurodiversity, Emily, who is autistic herself, told the BBC it was “daunting” confronting that part of herself while filming but she “learned a lot” about herself throughout the process.

“I was unmasking on set and to then portray that on camera was very new to me and difficult to navigate at times,” she said. “But truthfully, the character is so much more than being autistic – Harriet is so many incredible things.”