Emily Carey reveals why exactly Alicent is bitter towards Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon

Emily Carey refuses to accept any criticism towards her character Alicent Hightower. The young actress knows that her character may not be liked by many people – after all, it’s hard to see your best friend marry your father. However, Carey believes that there is more to Alicent than meets the eye and she deserves more compassion from viewers.

In an interview with Variety, Carey said that –

“Marrying Viserys is a choice. But it was never her choice to make. The choice was made by the men around her. The amount of misogyny that Rhaenyra faces, Alicent gets just as much.”

“I read the books. In the future, she does make some questionable choices — let’s put it that way. But that’s not the adolescent that I play. I’m playing her in the beginning of her life. The ‘villain origin story,’ in quotation marks, because I personally don’t believe the Alicent that I play is a villain.”

The actress later added that –

“What’s so heartbreaking about this whole situation is these two young women, neither of them are in control at any time. Their lives are basically being dictated by their fathers.”

Emily Carey revealed the reason behind Alicent Hightower’s bitterness toward Rhaenyra

Carey reflects on how she felt shooting the scene with Ser Criston, in which Alicent discovers his affair with Rhaenyra. This is what she revealed –

“She goes through so many emotions in one go — a concoction-cocktail of all of these feelings. First of all, there’s the betrayal of, ‘You lied to me.’ Then the betrayal of, ‘I swear this upon the memory of my mother,’ which is what you see in Episode 2 with their shared trauma. It’s something that they bond over. Alicent took Rhaenyra to the Sept and showed this emotional vulnerability, and let her see this part of her that she doesn’t really show to anyone.”

“And then it’s the betrayal of, ‘Hold on. You slept with him, and I’m in love with him, and you know this. That’s not fair.’ Alicent is all about duty, through and through. It’s always duty versus heart with her… I’m glad that I got to show how she became this angry woman. And I think that scene is such a turning point.”

What do you think about this being the reason behind the bitterness between the two? Let us know in the comments below.

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