
Home of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke on Her Most Tough Scene
House of the Dragon elevated itself in a short time from being “that new Game of Thrones spin-off” to must-watch appointment TV, thanks in no small half to the acute drama skilled by its well-acted characters. Olivia Cooke’s Alicent Hightower—daughter, queen, mom—had greater than her share of trials, however the actor was in a position to single out one second that stood out more than most.
“In episode eight, the scene with [servant girl] Dyana the place she tells me that my son raped her … I needed to hit Tom [Glynn-Carney, who plays Aegon] actually arduous,” Cooke stated in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “And Tom was like, ‘No, simply hit me.’ The primary go-around, I clipped him on his chin. And he was like, “No, simply actually wall at me,” and I simply actually fucking went for it to the purpose the place it echoed all over the corridor, and my hand instantly had a heartbeat. Fortunately the digicam’s on Tom, and I used to be fully taken out of the scene [because I was] making an attempt to suppress a very awkward giggle. God is aware of what it did to his face. … We solely did it as soon as or perhaps twice. But it surely was like, ‘Oh my God, don’t mess with you.’”
Episode eight was a very necessary one for Alicent, and Cooke made certain she was ready to convey all of the heightened feelings it requred. “Sara Hess wrote that episode, so I spoke endlessly along with her and [director] Geeta Patel. It’s such a gross state of affairs that Alicent must be in … it’s important to in that second take into consideration what Alicent herself really stands for, and that’s for her kids and for order,” Cooke stated. “Her first thought is to like and defend her son as a lot as attainable … however on the similar time, her humanity will get the higher of her and she will be able to’t assist however actually really feel for this woman — however then an iron defend has to return in. There’s a process at hand, and that’s to, one, reprimand Aegon, but additionally to quiet anybody who is aware of. It was simply such a grim scene to movie, and it was an eerie, quiet, subdued ambiance on set that day.”
When requested if the Home of the Dragon forged ever wanted to “decompress” after filming the present’s extra traumatic scenes, Cooke answered within the affirmative and added that plans are already underway to determine the place to collect subsequent season. “Numerous the present’s [filmed] in Watford … subsequent season, we’re saying we have to discover a native pub in Watford, the place we will go and simply have a drink and simply be like, ‘What the fuck did we simply do?’”
Head to the Hollywood Reporter to learn the complete interview. Home of the Dragon’s first season is now streaming on HBO Max.
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