Supergirl Milly Alcock Prepares to Take Flight

Raised in Petersham, a middle-class suburb in west Sydney, by a single mother who worked as a nanny, Alcock idolized some of Australia’s most successful exports: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Sarah Snook, Heath Ledger. But breaking into show business with no familial connections meant she had to hustle. At the age of 13, Alcock began cold-calling talent agencies. “We struggled financially, so it really pushed me to be assertive,” she says. “My mother instilled this blind confidence within me: ‘If those idiots can do it, why can’t you?’ Her words, not mine.” Alcock laughs. “It just lit a fire under my arse.”

During her senior year of high school, Alcock nabbed a role in the Australian series Upright. Was quitting school for TV a tough sell for Alcock’s mother? “She told me to do it,” says Alcock. Her mother is dyslexic; Alcock, too, struggled academically. “I was bad at school—that was branded as naughty. We have this weird halo effect that if you’re a clever kid academically, then therefore, you are good. Acting was the only thing that I was given that halo for, and it’s intoxicating to be chosen like that.”

After a cameo appearance in last year’s Superman, Alcock gets top billing as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl. “She’s given this incredible responsibility and doesn’t know how to deal with it,” says Alcock. “So she kind of suffocates herself and goes on a journey of self-discovery.” It was only when production ended—and her tsunami nightmares abated—that Alcock realized: “That’s me, man. I’m the mess.” Or rather, she used to be: “I’m not the mess anymore.”

In comic book lore, Kara lives through the destruction of her home planet before arriving on Earth. “She’s not trying to save the world—she’s just trying to save her own,” says Alcock. “This film is an excellent reminder that the world can be crumbling around you, but you can be the hero of your own story.”

Alcock has long strived to keep her eyes on her own paper. She didn’t probe her costar Julianne Moore for advice between takes on Sirens: “You have to respect that they don’t owe you that,” Alcock says. She also didn’t look for guidance from any previous onscreen Supergirls, including actors Melissa Benoist and Sasha Calle. “They’re just people living their lives,” Alcock says, a shrug evident in her voice. “It’s not like we have this blood bond.”

After House of the Dragon, Alcock also swore she’d never do another big franchise project. But when she didn’t work for a year after the conclusion of Sirens, professional anxiety began to creep in. “I was so shit-scared that my life was over at 22,” she says. “And, of course, it wasn’t.” When the opportunity to play the Girl of Steel came along, she says, “I kind of bullied myself into it.”

Has the famously fickle Game of Thrones fandom prepared Alcock for the inevitable backlash she’ll face? “It definitely made me aware that simply existing as a woman in that space is something that people comment on. We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of women’s bodies,” she says. “I can’t really stop them. I can only be myself.”

Filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott have also shared their own misgivings about the superhero genre. Alcock doesn’t mind: “I get it. They’ve been around for fucking ever making phenomenal films,” she says when asked a question she’ll inevitably face during the looming Supergirl press tour. “Not every film is for everyone. The beauty of art is that you can be selective.”