House of the Dragon child actor 'had great time'

Three-year-old Lulu enjoys seeing herself on screen

A mother whose three-year-old daughter stars in Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon says the toddler had a great time on the show.

Emma, an actress from Derbyshire, said her daughter, Lulu, can be seen in episode one of the new series as Princess Jaehaera.

The apperance comes after her younger sister Ziggy starred in season one as baby Princess Heleana.

Emma, who has herself worked on the West End said she felt "super proud".

Lulu with her on-screen mother, Queen Heleana played as an adult by Phia Saban

Lulu's mother said her daughter was approached about the role shortly after joining an agency.

"Only a couple of weeks after being signed, she got an audition for House of the Dragon", said Emma.

"Lulu had to do a live casting session after she handed in a video tape. She was really lucky she got it.

"For the last year she has been back and forth to the Warner Bros studios in Watford, having the most amazing time.

"The cast were amazing with her, she had a great time."

Lulu features in the first episode of season two

Lulu told BBC Radio Derby about some of the things she had to do on set.

"I had to lie in a bed, I had to give her [on-screen mother Phia Saban] a cuddle, open my eyes and look frightened and I had to wear a green costume", she said.

Emma added: "At the moment, if she enjoys it then we will let her carry on doing it.

"Lulu has a love for singing, dancing and acting.

"It was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. It was very dark, a lot of fire and rain throughout filming. It’s not a child-friendly show so she did really well."

Emma explained the production crew made sure the three-year-old was protected from witnessing the gruesome scene in the episode, which involved another child actor who was playing her brother.

“There is a scene where the actress playing Lulu's mum picks her up and runs down the staircase with her and all that was done with a doll," she said.

“Lulu and the little boy in the episode had life-sized dolls made of them so they were never actually in any of the gruesome scenes, Lulu never saw any of those parts.

"It was so detailed and really hard to have the dolls made because they had to stand so still for ages and have body scans and moulds made.”

The first episode of the new season aired in the UK on 16 June.

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.