Meet Gayle Rankin, who plays Alys Rivers in House of the Dragon

Game of Thrones may have ended in 2019, but fans have been able to return to the world of Westeros thanks to the HBO prequel, House of the Dragon, which released in 2022. The most recent episode of the series – now in Season 3 – left viewers appalled when Aemond, played by Ewan Mitchell, appears to engage in incestuous intimacy with his mother, before it is revealed that the character was hallucinating and was in fact intimate with Alys Rivers, an alleged witch played by Gayle Rankin. “It was very intimate and very odd but very professional,” said Rankin about filming the scene, in a recent interview with Variety. “We tried to like, make jokes, just to keep it lighthearted because those scenes are not easy, and they’re complicated and very technical. So it was also just like it was another day at the office for being like a very odd, f***ed-up scene.” The 36-year-old actress joined the cast of House of the Dragon in 2023 for Season 2; the show is set to end after Season 4. So, who is Gayle Rankin? Here’s what we know. Where is Gayle Rankin from? Gayle Rankin was born on August 1, 1989, in Paisley, Scotland and was raised in the countryside near Glasgow. She told Interview Magazine in 2017 that she was very quiet in her childhood and did not speak much for about three years. In an interview with Dazed that same year, Rankin said she spent the first 16 years of her life in Scotland and that her entire family is based there. “It’s in my blood and informs my sense of humour, my point of view, the people I choose to spend time with, everything,” she said. “There is magic in Scotland. It’s [a] country with a lot of pride and bravery. I feel lucky to have been born into that.” How did Gayle Rankin get into acting? Rankin’s parents have been supportive of her pursuit of performing arts since she was a child, with her mother “obsessed” with old films and music, per Interview Magazine. When Rankin expressed an interest in singing at age seven or eight, her mother found her a singing teacher despite her young age. Young Rankin also took part in a production of Macbeth when she was in the Scottish Opera’s children’s acting programme. “They’ve never pushed me, it’s only ever been supportive,” the actress said. Rankin studied musical theatre at the Dance School of Scotland, before receiving a scholarship to train at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City at 17. She was the first Scottish drama student at Juilliard, per Vogue, and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting. What roles has Gayle Rankin played? Rankin made her acting debut in the long-running television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2012. She is best known for her role as Sheila the She-Wolf in the Netflix series Glow, and played Queen Victoria in The Greatest Showman (2017). She is also a theatre actor, starring as Fräulein Kost in the 2014 revival of Cabaret. She returned to the musical as Sally Bowles in its 2024 rendition alongside Eddie Redmayne, earning a Tony nomination for her performance. “I do feel like I’m in the prime of my creativity. I want to explore roles where women are in that period of their life, because I don’t know if we really do that enough,” Rankin told Scottish Woman Magazine in May. “Society is pretty scared of women in their power. I’d also like to crack the code on my version of a love story. I don’t know what that is yet. I want to keep playing extreme, scary, challenging characters. But I’m also drawn to material that’s intimate, nuanced and beautiful.” Who is Gayle Rankin dating? gayle rankin and adam rapp attending the new group’s 2026 gala in new york on 20th april 🌼 pic.twitter.com/jz4ih6qaZS — gayle rankin thinker 💭 (@thinkerglr) May 1, 2026 Although Rankin has not publicly addressed her love life, she is speculated to be in a relationship with playwright and novelist Adam Rapp, who is more than 20 years older than her. The pair have attended events and opening nights together.

Meet Gayle Rankin, who plays Alys Rivers in House of the Dragon

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Juilliard-trained Scottish actress earned a Tony nomination for her role in Cabaret before starring in the Game of Thrones spin-off

The Juilliard-trained Scottish actress earned a Tony nomination for her role in Cabaret before starring in the Game of Thrones spin-off