Olivia Cooke believes that her portrayal of Alicent might ‘not please everyone’

Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon is the most hyped show of 2022. So far it has checked out all the parameters that were placed before its premiere. One of them being the casting of actors for various roles, and just like its predecessor, House of The Dragon has managed to impress the audience in that field as well. Actress Olivia Cooke, whose performance as the older Alicent Hightower has been praised by both fans and critics alike, is one of the many gems amongst the highly talented cast. However, she isn’t too sure she has made her mark upon the audience just yet.

Cooke recently appeared on In The Envelope podcast and said, “Whatever layers I try to give the character in order to make a more nuanced performance—ultimately, it’s not going to please everyone. But that’s just what I have to do in order to give a decent, honest performance: I have to imbue it with just things that justify the characters, actions, and emotions. And those might not necessarily be in the original text—or even in the scripts.”

Recalling the Driftmark scene when she points the Catspaw dagger right in Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) eye, she said, “By day five, Emma and I were setting up for a close shot of a knife and Emma’s eye, and we were just in hysterics. We had lost the plot and just could not keep it together. We were so tired. We had nothing left. I was drinking so much water, because I couldn’t cry anymore. I was so dehydrated. It’s just madness, a lot of that. That was our first big emotional scene that lasted over a few days, and we were both like, ‘Oh, fuck, this job is going to require a lot of stamina.’”

What do you think of Cooke’s portrayal of Alicent Hightower? Tell us in the comments below!

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