Emma D’Arcy Is “Embarrassed” by Viral Negroni Sbagliato Moment: “I’m Only Trying to Make Olivia Laugh”

House of the Dragon actor Emma D’Arcy said they’re “embarrassed” for sparking the internet’s latest obsession: a Negroni Sbagliato with Prosecco. Fans lost it over D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who respectively play Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower in the Game of Thrones prequel, bonding over their favorite drink in a video posted by the streamer.

“I keep thinking I should tell my mum that I’ve become a meme in the hope that she’ll be happy for me, but I’d have to explain what a meme is, and I’ve decided it’s too much effort,” D’Arcy told The New York Times.

The actor continued “I feel so embarrassed. Because in those interviews, when we’ve been at it for six hours, I’m honestly only trying to make Olivia [Cooke] laugh.”

In the “Get to Know Me” video, the two sit across from each other and ask a series of Q&A prompts. Around the two-minute mark, Cooke asks D’Arcy “What’s your drink of choice?” and the duo can’t help but finish each other’s sentences with a drink that, well, nobody has heard of.

D’Arcy replies “a Negroni,” to which Cooke adds, “I was gonna say the same thing.” The actor continues, without breaking eye contact, “Sbagliato… with Prosecco in it,” and Cooke dubs the drink as “Oh, stunning.” It was a top-tier internet moment.

While D’Arcy, who uses they/them pronouns, has broken the tension with their viral moment, they previously expressed that they were nervous about taking over the role of the famed Targaryen (previously played by Milly Alcock) in episode six of the series. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?” D’Arcy said in an interview with The Independent.

“It’s a difficult point at which to meet an audience. They only get me when they lose Milly, so they meet me in a place of grief, of losing someone they just spent five hours with. I’m well aware of that.”

If only you knew then what you know now, D’Arcy.

House of the Dragon airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on HBO and HBO Max.