House of the Dragon Star Sonoya Mizuno Sets Directorial Debut With A24’s Stages

Sonoya Mizuno, known to fantasy fans for playing Mysaria in House of the Dragon, is stepping behind the camera for the first time to direct Stages, an original feature backed by A24 and Film4. The project marks a major next chapter for Mizuno, who has already built an eclectic screen career across Ex Machina, Devs, Crazy Rich Asians, and the world of Westeros.​

Quick read:

• Sonoya Mizuno will make her directorial debut with Stages, produced by A24 and Film4.​

• The film is inspired by her professional dance background, including training at the Royal Ballet School and performing with major ballet companies.​

• Longtime collaborator Alex Garland joins as producer, extending a partnership that began with Ex Machina and continued through Devs.

A24, Film4, and Alex Garland reunite for Stages

Stages is being developed as a collaboration between indie powerhouse A24 and UK stalwart Film4, with Mizuno’s longtime creative partner Alex Garland on board as a producer alongside Peter Rice, Myles Payne, and Sam Ritberg. Plot details are still being kept under wraps, but the film is described as being inspired by Mizuno’s own background as a professionally trained dancer, hinting at a story likely steeped in movement, performance, and physical storytelling.​

Before breaking out as an actor, Mizuno trained at the Royal Ballet School and danced with prestigious companies including English National Ballet, Dresden Semperoper Ballett, and Scottish Ballet, experience that will now directly inform her work behind the camera on Stages.​

From Ex Machina and Devs to the director’s chair

Mizuno made her on‑screen debut in Garland’s Ex Machina, where she played the android Kyoko in some of the film’s most haunting and visually iconic scenes. She later took on the lead role of Lily Chan in Garland’s FX limited series Devs, playing a software engineer investigating the mysterious death of her partner inside a powerful quantum computing company.​

In a past interview about Devs, Mizuno said reading the scripts made her want to interrogate how tech leaders shape society, especially as governments struggle to keep up with the rapid growth of the industry. That mix of big thematic questions and intimate character work has become a hallmark of her collaborations with Garland—and Stages looks set to continue that trajectory, this time with Mizuno guiding the vision from the director’s chair.​

With A24 and Film4’s track record on acclaimed projects like The Zone of Interest and We Live in Time, and Mizuno bringing together her dance background, genre experience, and thoughtful approach to technology and power, Stages already stands out as one of the most intriguing debuts on the horizon.

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