Tamzin Merchant (born 4 March 1987, in Sussex, England), is an English actress. She's perhaps best known for portraying Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, in The Tudors. Her other notable roles include Georgiana Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Anne Hale in Salem and Imogen Spurnrose in Carnival Row. She portrayed Daenerys Targaryen in the original pilot for Game of Thrones, though she was replaced by Emilia Clarke for the series proper. Besides acting, she's also written and published poetry, and has written a trilogy of fantasy novels, with her debut novel, The Hatmakers, being published in February 2021.
Filmography includes:
- Pride and Prejudice (2005) as Georgiana Darcy
- Casualty 1906 (2006) as Probationer Eastwood
- Bonekickers (2008) as Helena
- The Tudors (2009 - 2010) as Katherine Howard
- Jane Eyre (2011) as Mary Rivers
- Red Faction: Origins (2011) as Lyra Mason
- DCI Banks (2011) as Miranda Aspern
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) as Rosa Bud
- Salem (2014 - 2017) as Anne Hale
- Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse (2015) as Rhonu
- Supergirl (2017) as Lyra Strayd
- Carnival Row (2019 - 2023) as Imogen Spurnrose
Tropes associated with the creator and her works:
- Creator Backlash: Although she has nothing against Game of Thrones overall, she eventually stated she really didn't enjoy her experience shooting the pilot episode and was extremely apprehensive about playing Daenerys, nearly backing out before filming. She was actually relieved when the role was recast.
- Dawson Casting:
- Notably averted with her role as Georgiana Darcy in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice; Georgiana has recently turned 16 years old while Merchant herself was 17 during filming. Georgiana was one of Merchant's first roles.
- Katherine Howard is believed to have mostly likely been born in 1523, making her around 17 when she married Henry VIII in 1540 and 19 when she was executed in 1542. Merchant was around 21 when she first played Katherine (before her marriage to Henry), though this is understandable given the sexual nature of the role; Merchant was also able to pass for a teenager well. It's also worth noting some sources place Katherine's birth year slightly earlier, which would make Merchant almost exactly the right age.
- She was 22 when she played Daenerys in the Game of Thrones pilot, who is 16-turning-17 at the beginning of the show; once again this is understandable given some of the stuff Daenerys goes through; she was already aged up from 13-turning-14 as she was in the books.
- Imogen Spurnrose is 22 in Carnival Row's first season, while Merchant was in fact 30 and turned 31 during the filming of Season 1. The second season takes place a few months after the first, so Imogen is about the same age while Merchant was 33/34 during filming and turned 36 by the time Season 2 finished airing.
- Ms. Fanservice: One of her most famous roles is as Katherine "rose without a thorn" Howard, who gets several scenes involving nudity and sex in The Tudors. She also stripped off and was featured in sex scenes as Anne in Salem and Imogen in Carnival Row.
- The Other Marty: She portrayed the Mother of Dragons in the Game of Thrones pilot in 2009; when the first episode was reshot, Emilia Clarke played Daenerys instead and went on to play her for the rest of the series. It's not entirely clear why Merchant left the role - most people who worked on the pilot have stated her performance was good - though it's been suggested the creators felt that Clarke was a better fit as Dany and had more onscreen chemistry with Jason Momoa (who portrayed Khal Drogo). In a 2021 interview with EW, Merchant admitted
she felt the role wasn't right for her and that she was initially talked out of turning it down, so she doesn't regret the casting change and saw it as a learning experience."Shooting that pilot was a really great lesson. It was an affirmation about listening to my instincts and following them, because I tried to back out of that situation and, during the contract process, I did back out. I was talked back into it by some persuasive people. Then I found myself naked and afraid in Morocco and riding a horse that was clearly much more excited to be there than I was." - Period Piece: Many of her roles are in works set in the distant past. This includes 9th Century Britain (Dragonheart 3 & 4), 1540s England (The Tudors), 1690s America (Salem), the late 1700s (Pride and Prejudice), the 19th century (Jane Eyre and The Mystery of Edwin Drood), and a London hospital in 1906 (Casualty 1906). Carnival Row is a fantasy series rather than historical fiction, though the setting resembles the Victorian era.
- Romance on the Set: She dated Freddie Fox for a time after meeting him on the set of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
- She Also Did: Merchant is primarily known for her acting, though she's also a published poet and has written a trilogy of children's fantasy novels, The Hatmakers (2021), The Mapmakers (2022) and The Troublemakers (2024).
- Typecasting: She has a tendency to play characters who are either The Ingenue or Spoiled Sweet (or a bit of both).
- What Could Have Been: She was the original casting choice for Daenerys Targaryen, and played her in the unaired Game of Thrones pilot. After the pilot was poorly received and the whole show was reworked, the role was recast with Emilia Clarke.
