Olivia Cooke describes what’s common in all the great directors she has worked with

Game of Thrones was a jumbling mess of convoluted relationships, which will also be at the core of the upcoming prequel House of The Dragon. Love, jealousy, greed, and pride, all have a part to play in the downfall of the Targaryens, as well as the cunningness of House Hightower. Olivia Cooke’s performance as the dowager Queen Alicent Hightower has been critically appraised, and fans are anxiously waiting for what’s next for her character in the series. Cooke has a lot of experience under her belt, working under the most experienced directors. She recently revealed what is common between the best directors she has worked with.

Cooke told Backstage in a recent interview, “They make you feel like you came up with the best ideas when, really, they came up with the best ideas—so you feel great doing everything. But really, they’re just incredibly humble and generous. They’re incredible at reading people, as well.”

“They have the wherewithal to let you run through all your ideas, and then they go, “Yeah, great, great, great.” Because sometimes, all an actor wants to do is go, “OK, I’ve been thinking about this all night; here’s X, Y, and Z of why I think this is going to happen.” And maybe it doesn’t pertain to the scene that you’re doing, exactly. But they will make you think that you’re able to incorporate that in what they want you to do. Sometimes, it doesn’t necessarily get in, but you feel emboldened and confident anyway.”

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