Bethany Antonia is a British actress and singer best known for playing dragonrider Lady Baela Targaryen in HBO’s fantasy series House of the Dragon. Born in Birmingham on 25 December 1997, she built her career through television and Netflix drama roles before landing the part that brought her wider international visibility.
In 2026, Bethany Antonia attracted renewed attention through her ongoing role in one of HBO’s highest-profile fantasy franchises and her appearance as a celebrity contestant on the twenty-fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing, which launched on BBC One on 19 September 2026. This article covers her early life, career timeline and current work, while noting that some personal details, including her relationships, have not been publicly disclosed.
Quick Bio
Who Is Bethany Antonia?
Bethany Antonia is an English actress who has spent nearly a decade building a career across television, film, theatre and audio drama. She first reached a mass audience through Netflix and BBC teen dramas, but it was her casting as Lady Baela Targaryen in House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel, that made her a recognisable name to global fantasy audiences from 2022 onward.
In 2026, she extended her public profile further by joining the West End cast of Hadestown as Eurydice and by becoming a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
Early Life and Family Background
Antonia was born on 25 December 1997 in Quinton, a suburb of Birmingham, England. She is of mixed English and Jamaican heritage. When she was six years old, her family relocated to a small coastal town in the Charente-Maritime region of south-west France, where they lived for five years before returning to Birmingham when Bethany was eleven.
She has spoken about that period publicly, describing it as a formative but sometimes challenging experience. Speaking to Girl Talk HQ, she recalled: “It was such a beautiful way to grow up… the language barrier was quite tricky to begin with, and I was the first brown girl a lot of the children in my class had ever seen before, but it’s an experience I look back on with the happiest of memories.”
Bethany came from a working-class background and was encouraged by her mother to take acting and dance classes from an early age.
Education
After returning to the UK, Antonia attended Perryfields High School before studying musical theatre at Birmingham Ormiston Academy. At 14, she began training at First Act Workshop, formerly the Central Junior Television Workshop, and also trained with the British Youth Music Theatre.
This grounding in performance workshops, rather than a conventional drama school, shaped her entry into the industry. She did not follow the traditional drama-school route, instead building experience through local workshops before securing an agent after writing to numerous agencies.
Career Beginnings
One of Antonia’s earliest recorded screen performances came in 2012, when she appeared in a short-film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, produced by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust following open auditions. She subsequently joined the British Youth Music Theatre, performing on stage in London in the 2013 production Burnt Out Souls, and later appeared in musical productions of Hairspray and Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure.
Her television debut came in 2017, at age 19, with a guest role as Jade Okonjo in an episode of the BBC One medical soap Doctors. In 2017, she also won the lead role of Chelsea in the British Film Institute-backed feature film Pin Cushion, alongside Joanna Scanlan, reportedly beating around 500 other candidates for the part.
Soon after, she made a brief appearance as Leanne in the sitcom Stath Lets Flats in 2018.
Career Breakthrough
Antonia’s breakthrough role arrived in 2020, when she was cast as Margot Rivers in Get Even, a BBC iPlayer and Netflix teen mystery series adapted from Gretchen McNeil’s Don’t Get Mad novels. The role gave her a lead position in an international streaming series and marked her first sustained main-cast experience.
In 2021, she took on the role of Kayleigh Shaw opposite Cush Jumbo and James Nesbitt in Stay Close, an eight-episode Netflix crime drama produced by Red Production Company in collaboration with novelist Harlan Coben. Discussing the role at the time, the then-24-year-old actress named Michaela Coel and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as creative influences she looked to when considering her next steps.
Complete Career Overview
Television Career
Since 2022, Antonia has played Lady Baela Targaryen, a dragonrider and the eldest daughter of Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon, in HBO’s House of the Dragon. The series is a prequel to Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood.
She has appeared across all three broadcast seasons, with her character taking on a more prominent role in Season 3 as the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons, escalates. The show’s third season aired weekly on Max and HBO from June to August 2026.
In 2023, she played Poppy Ngomo in Russell T Davies’ ITV miniseries Nolly, a biographical drama about Crossroads actress Noele Gordon, working alongside Helena Bonham Carter.
In 2024, she appeared as Marianne Dashwood in a Hallmark Channel television-film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. In 2025, she played Mo Gilliben in the Doctor Who episode “The Well,” guest-starring alongside former Strictly Come Dancing champion Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Theatre and Voice Work
Antonia made her West End debut in 2026 as Eurydice in Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre, London. Her run in the role ended on 13 September 2026.
She had earlier appeared in the 2022 Soho Theatre production LAVA by playwright James Fritz. Since 2023, she has also worked as a voice performer for Big Finish Productions, lending her voice to characters across several Doctor Who universe audio dramas, including Dark Season: Legacy Rising and The War Master.
Major Works and Achievements
Antonia’s most prominent role to date is her sustained, multi-season performance in House of the Dragon, one of HBO’s flagship fantasy productions. The series has placed her among a cast that includes Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Matt Smith.
She was also nominated in a Midlands Awards 2025 category recognised by the Royal Television Society, reflecting industry recognition connected to her HBO and Sky Atlantic work.
Her lead roles in Get Even and Stay Close established her as a recurring lead in television drama before she reached wider visibility through House of the Dragon. Her 2026 West End debut in Hadestown marked a notable expansion into musical theatre.
Personal Life
Antonia publicly came out as gay in April 2024, ahead of the second season of House of the Dragon, after sharing a racist and hateful Instagram direct message she had received. She responded to the message on her Instagram Stories with the comment: “Wait till they find out I’m gay too.”
Beyond this disclosure, she has not publicly confirmed details about a spouse, partner or children. Other aspects of her romantic life have not been publicly disclosed.
She has spoken about her close friendship with co-star Harry Collett, describing “5 years of playing these silly little Targaryens” together on Instagram after the Season 3 premiere. She has also mentioned enjoying playing the piano and being a long-time Strictly Come Dancing superfan, having watched the show weekly with a close friend for years before becoming a contestant herself.
Social Media Presence
Antonia maintains an Instagram account that she uses for professional updates, behind-the-scenes content from House of the Dragon and occasional personal statements, including her 2024 disclosure of her sexuality.
Her public posts and statements are regularly covered by entertainment outlets reporting on the House of the Dragon cast. Exact follower counts fluctuate and are not included here.
Public Image and Influence
Within the House of the Dragon ensemble, Antonia is recognised for her portrayal of a character who becomes increasingly central as the show’s civil-war storyline develops. She has appeared in cast interviews alongside Olivia Cooke, Harry Collett and Fabien Frankel to discuss the series and its evolving stakes.
As a Black British actress in a major genre franchise, and as someone who has spoken candidly about race and sexuality, she has drawn attention beyond her screen credits. That coverage remains connected primarily to specific, documented public statements and professional work.
Recent Work and Current Status
As of September 2026, Antonia is a celebrity contestant on the twenty-fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing, which launched on BBC One on 19 September 2026.
She explained that she joined the show partly in memory of her grandmother, who died earlier in 2026 and with whom she used to watch Strictly. She said: “My Nan passed away at the start of the year, and we loved it so much together. The timing of the offer felt like a gift from her… I am doing it for her.”
Earlier in 2026, Antonia made her West End debut as Eurydice in Hadestown. Her run in the role concluded on 13 September 2026.
House of the Dragon has been confirmed for a fourth and final season, which is currently expected to arrive in 2028. Antonia’s participation in the final season has not yet been officially confirmed.
Growing Influence
Given that Antonia is still relatively early in a career that began with television workshops in Birmingham, her trajectory reflects steady growth rather than a finished legacy.
She has moved from single-episode guest spots to sustained leads in international streaming dramas, then into a long-running HBO franchise, and later into musical theatre and primetime entertainment television. This has broadened her range across drama, fantasy, theatre and light entertainment within roughly a decade.
Common Misconceptions
Some fan and database sites list her full name simply as “Bethany Antonia,” while other sources record her full name as Bethany Antonia Clarke, with “Antonia” used as her professional surname.
Net-worth figures circulating on unofficial celebrity-biography sites are unverified estimates and are not confirmed by any official source, so they have not been included here.
Conclusion
Bethany Antonia has built a genuine, credit-by-credit acting career, moving from Birmingham theatre workshops to a leading role in a major HBO fantasy franchise.
Her work in House of the Dragon, paired with earlier lead roles in Get Even and Stay Close, and her 2026 expansion into West End theatre and Strictly Come Dancing, reflects a widening and increasingly visible career rather than reliance on a single breakout moment.
What is publicly known about her centres almost entirely on her professional work and a small number of personal disclosures she has made voluntarily, including coming out as gay in 2024. Details about her romantic relationships, family beyond her mother and grandmother, and other private matters have not been confirmed through reliable public sources and are not addressed here.
Also Read: Presley Gerber: His Life, Fashion Career and Legacy After His Death at 27
FAQ
Who is Bethany Antonia?
Bethany Antonia is a British actress and singer, born on 25 December 1997 in Birmingham, England. She is best known for playing Lady Baela Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon and has also starred in Get Even, Stay Close and Nolly.
What is Bethany Antonia known for?
She is primarily known for portraying dragonrider Baela Targaryen in House of the Dragon since 2022. She is also recognised for lead roles in Netflix’s Stay Close and the teen drama Get Even.
Where is Bethany Antonia from?
She was born in Quinton, Birmingham, England, and later spent five years living in the Charente-Maritime region of France as a child before returning to Birmingham.
Is Bethany Antonia married?
No marriage or spouse has been publicly confirmed. She came out as gay in April 2024 but has not disclosed details about a current partner.
How did Bethany Antonia become famous?
She gained wider recognition through her lead role in Get Even in 2020 and Stay Close in 2021, before international visibility followed her casting as Baela Targaryen in House of the Dragon from 2022 onward.
What is Bethany Antonia doing now?
As of September 2026, she is competing on Strictly Come Dancing series 24. She recently completed her West End run as Eurydice in Hadestown. House of the Dragon has been renewed for a fourth and final season, though her return has not yet been officially confirmed.
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