House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke has spoken about the public criticisms she receives for her character’s decisions. Based on George R. R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is a prequel series set 172 years before Game of Thrones. The events depicted in season 1 spanned multiple years, with Cooke making her debut as an older version of Lady Alicent Hightower in episode 6. Former childhood friends with Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the pair’s bond later fell to bitter rivalry due to Alicent’s marriage to King Viserys and the birth of a male heir.
In a recent appearance on The Wrap’s UnWrapped Podcast, Cooke spoke about the backlash she receives for her character’s villainous decisions. Admitting that her character is intensely flawed, Cooke revealed that she is not interested in portraying characters that are universally liked. She also noted that she has had to develop “more of a rhino skin” so as not to take the criticism leveled at her in public so personally. Check out her comments, which begin at 12:55 in the video below:
If you did dislike my character, that’s so fine. I don’t want to play characters that have to be liked universally. That’s sort of like the beauty of what we do, everyone is so moved and projects so much stuff in so many different ways. I am fully aware that Alicent is a bit like Marmite. I had it last night at the pub, some woman came up to me and was like, “You’re the girl in House of the Dragon, your character is such a C-word.” I just gotta be like, “Ohhhh, okay, thanks, have a good night!” You’re making people feel and I guess there’s some sort of impact that the story and the arc is pushing through. I’m able to sort of compartmentalize and put that experience away, even though it’s sort of opened back up and we’re shooting season 2. I’m learning to have a bit more of a rhino skin, so I don’t really take it personally. I know she’s not the heroine. I went into that knowing that she’s a very flawed person, and she’s full of all these different complexities.
Alicent’s House Of The Dragon Criticisms Follow A Game Of Thrones Trend
Much like its predecessor, House of the Dragon offers viewers a range of well-drawn characters which audiences love to hate. While Cooke’s Alicent has often been compared to Lena Headey’s turn as the villainous Cersei Lannister, her character is not nearly as brutal or blatantly immoral as the woman whose machinations saw her ascend, and ultimately lose, the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones. Nonetheless, Cooke’s own experiences with fans directly reflect those that Headey and many of her other co-stars dealt with due to their respective characters’ actions.
While Headey has previously been upfront about her own experiences with viewers, perhaps one of the most extreme examples of viewers conflating actors with their despicable characters comes in the form of the Waif actress Faye Marsay. Appearing in Game of Thrones seasons 5 and 6, Marsay’s character was responsible for helping to train Arya Stark to become a Faceless Man by beating her with a stick. Earlier this year, the actress revealed that the public backlash to her character became so intense that she was later forced to quit social media altogether in order to avoid it.
Yet not all the actors responsible for bringing hated Game of Thrones villains to life have found themselves accosted in real life. Jack Gleeson, the actor who played Joffrey Baratheon, revealed that despite playing one of the show’s most despised characters, he never personally experienced any negative interactions with members of the show’s fandom. Hopefully, Cooke’s continued tenure as Alicent on House of the Dragon will more closely follow Gleeson’s experiences moving forward, and audiences will seek to better distinguish the actor from the role they play.
Source: UnWrapped Podcast
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
