The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations marked a major milestone for the HBO series ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, but a notable omission in the awards category left fans disappointed.The ‘Game of Thrones‘ prequel earned nine Emmy nominations, including a nod for Outstanding Drama Series. It also picked up nominations for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series, Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode, Outstanding Stunt Performance, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program and Outstanding Cinematography for a Series.However, the absence of acting nominations for the show’s cast sparked outrage online. Many fans argued that young star Dexter Sol Ansell, who plays Egg, deserved recognition for his performance, with some calling the omission one of the biggest surprises of this year’s Emmy nominations.Months before the nominations were announced, in an exclusive roundtable interview, ETimes had asked Dexter and his co-star Peter Claffey about the growing awards buzz surrounding the show and the young actor. At the time, comparisons were already being drawn to ‘Adolescence’ breakout Owen Cooper and his impressive awards-season run.Asked whether he believed Dexter could receive similar recognition, Peter had nothing but praise for his young co-star, saying, “Uh, yeah, 100%. Have you seen all the episodes? There’s a point at the end of six, I remember watching that being like, ‘This is truly incredibly, incredible acting from a kid as well’.”While acknowledging the excitement surrounding awards recognition, Peter admitted he hoped his co-star would not become too focused on awards. Peter explained, “I’d prefer Dexter not to think about any of that stuff. Of course, it’s hard not to look at all those things when you get to the point of a show like this, but… It’s a subjective art form and I think, you know, you can get swept up in this Emmys thing and Oscars and Golden Globes and BAFTAs and it’s like, just as long as you’re enjoying the process. And if you’re proud of your own performance, and if you do get nominated for something, that’s great, you can charge them so much more money the next time you come around. But once he’s proud of his own performance, that’s all, I’m happy and I’m proud of his performance.”Dexter, in turn responded, “I don’t care about that. I’m just doing it (acting) because I like it.”Meanwhile, in a social media post, following the Emmy nominations, Dexter wrote in the comments, “Watching the Emmy nominations live with my friends and hearing that our show had been nominated for a Television Academy Award was one of the most exciting moments ever! This nomination means so much to me. I’m incredibly proud to be part of such a talented team. Huge congratulations to our talented writers, cast and crew. All legends. Thank you to everyone who made this incredible journey possible!”‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ currently has filming of Season 2 in the works.
