INTERVIEW: Bethany Antonia Takes The Stage

There is a specific kind of control in the way Bethany Antonia approaches her work. Nothing in her trajectory reads accidental. From her early start in performance to her current position within House of the Dragon, she builds each role with a sense of timing that resists urgency. As Lady Baela Targaryen, she operates within a scale defined by spectacle and long production cycles, where character shifts unfold slowly and with intention. That distance between script, shoot, and release has become part of her method, shaping how she thinks about performance over time.

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Speaking with Editor Ana Markovic, Antonia shifts the focus away from visibility and toward process. Her move into theatre, taking on Eurydice in Hadestown, introduces a different kind of discipline, one that relies on repetition, presence, and constant adjustment. The conversation moves through these contrasts without forcing a narrative between them. Instead, it reveals an actor working across formats with clarity, treating each project as a separate system with its own rules, pace, and demands.

How did you first get into showbiz, and what was the first experience that made you realize this was what you were meant to do? – My mom put me in dance classes as soon as I could walk – acting and singing came quickly afterwards. I had so much energy when I was little and it was the only thing that kept me entertained. So, it was a huge part of my childhood.

I started doing drama classes in secondary school and then I joined a local acting group. Someone came into the group looking for youngsters to be a part of a Shakespeare adaptation and I was cast. That was my first job, I was 14 and I couldn’t quite believe this was something I could do and call it work. From there I didn’t look back.

I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work across so many different styles of storytelling.

At that point, what kind of stories did you hope to be part of? Has the reality of your career been different from what you expected? – I don’t think I’d even begun to think about what kinds of stories I wanted to tell back then, every story is a story worth telling when you’re 14. So I was definitely more excited by the means and style of telling them and figuring out what kind of actor I wanted to be.

And I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work across so many different styles of storytelling.

What did House of the Dragon teach you about power, beyond the script? – One of the blessings of being on a show like this for the amount of time that we have been now, is that you’re able to watch the character you play evolve incredibly slowly. I’m reading about what’s coming years before we shoo it, we’re talking about costumes she’s going to wear years before they’re made. Everything that happens to her on screen feels to me like slow motion, from script to shoot to post to release to reception. And it’s taught me so much about the power of patience. How much can be gained from enjoying things slowly and building things atomically piece by piece. That’s extended into my personal life in so many ways. I was 22 when I signed onto the show, and I’m 28 now!

One of the blessings of being on a show like this (House of the Dragon) for the amount of time that we have been now, is that you’re able to watch the character you play evolve incredibly slowly.

Did being part of such a massive series make you more confident or more self-aware? – Initially it made me unbelievably self-aware. Even though I knew the legacy that preceded us I definitely underestimated the eyes that would be on us as actors and it didn’t always feel kind or welcome. But recently, I’ve been able to find a lot of joy in the exposure and find ways to channel it into excitement and positivity. I’m feeling so much pride and excitement about what I’m a part of.


In an industry that increasingly uses algorithms to predict audience wants, do you worry we’re just trapping ourselves in a loop of what worked yesterday? What was the last film or show that blew your mind with its originality and made you think, “Wow, I did not see this coming”? – There’s no art without inspiration, so I wouldn’t say it feels like trapping. But there’s definitely room to tell new stories that still aren’t being told. The most excited I’ve been about a show in a long time was watching Rapman’s Supacell on Netflix last year. It felt like a glorious homecoming for a new style of storytelling in black British TV.

And to my point about no art without inspiration , I also recently watched Marc Evans Mr Burton – and it absolutely blew me away. It’s based on a true story, but the way they chose to tell the was so exquisite and so detailed, it really stayed with me. That’s a really good example of a telling of a true-story that can still be made unbelievably original and fresh.

We’ve reached a point where if a dragon actually flew over London tomorrow, it would probably only stay in the news cycle for about twenty minutes. Does it feel like the world has finally out fantasied the fantasy writers? – It really does. Which speaks a lot to how de-sensitised we’re becoming to what’s happening around us. We’re sort of beyond dragons flying already if we zoom out for a second.

Nothing could have prepared me for the experience of getting to play Eurydice. Roles like her coming along once in a lifetime and I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity.

Tell us about Hadestown. How does it feel to have a dream come true? Does the reality of standing on that stage feel exactly how you imagined it would, or has the real thing completely surprised you? Is it weird to look at the cast and realize you aren’t watching the show anymore, but are in it? – SO WEIRD. Oh my. Nothing could have prepared me for the experience of getting to play Eurydice. If we’d done this interview a year ago and you’d asked me what my dream role in theatre was she’d who I’d have said. Roles like her coming along once in a lifetime and I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity. It actually really does feel exactly as I’d hoped it would. Alive, fizzy, ever-important, different every night. I’m at my happiest when I’m on stage, and Hadestown has solidified that in every way.

What is the one thing about the character of Eurydice that made you say, “I have to play her,” long before you even got the audition? – She’d been top of the bucket list since Anais first released the album. The music in the show pulls your heart out of your chest and forces you confront what you’re holding. And every single song Eurydice sings brings up something for me. She’s so layered and nuanced and I found so much of myself in her words long before I’d been in a position to play her. It’s so rare for that to happen, I just fell in love with her from the very first second.

I feel so lucky that for the last decade I’ve been able to be part such a diverse spread of projects and storytelling.

Since you’ve already checked one of the ‘Ultimate Dream Roles’ off your list and escaped the dragons of Westeros, what’s the next move? If you were opening a fresh spreadsheet for the next ten/twenty years, is the goal to find an even bigger underworld to conquer, get the chance to fly, or to start scouting locations for that animal sanctuary where the goats can enjoy their days? – Ooof. Big question. I feel so lucky that for the last decade I’ve been able to be part such a diverse spread of projects and storytelling. If things can keep ticking along in this direction, I’ll be really happy.

There are still a few things I haven’t conquered yet. I’d really love to do a Shakespeare play soon, and work on Broadway, and of course those animal sanctuary plans are ever in the making!!!

Photographer ELLA ROSE PECK
Stylist LEWIS STRATTON
Make-up MORGAN WYN
Hair LUCIA JOSEPHINE
Twists MERRYN HEELS
Movement Director LEE JAY HOY
Fashion Assistants ALEXANDRIA NG & LOGUN SCREEN
Talent BETHANY ANTONIA

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