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Olivia Cooke, who plays the controversial Queen Alicent Hightower in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon,” recently told GQ that she stepped away from social media ahead of the show’s third season because
of the fandom’s “ugliness.”
“I think some of those interpretations just catch fire, and they become something that bears no resemblance to what was shown on the screen at the time,” said Cooke on the subject of the fanbases’ theories and opinions (which include observations about Cooke herself as well as her relationship with the show’s directors). The uber-passionate fanbase was, in part, why she went offline and deactivated her Instagram ahead of Season 3 dropping in June, she revealed. “There’s a lot of ugliness to that fandom as well. It’s steeped in misogyny. There’s a lot of racism. I try to let it take up minimal mental real estate.”
While viewers of the prequel series are well-acquainted with the taboo at this point, Season 3 saw Cooke’s Hightower in a number of contentious storylines, including sharing a kiss with her son that results in an incestuous daydream scene later on.
Cooke’s “House of the Dragon” co-star Milly Alcock was also tasked with navigating a toxic subset of the show’s fandom when a group of viewers decided to pit the younger actors against their adult counterparts. Co-creator Ryan Condal described the comparison as “horrible”: “It’s horrible for all these young performers that did a great thing, and kind of did an impossible thing… Everybody should have just been celebrating the success and reception of that show. And people should find something else to do with their time, frankly.”
On her social media break, Cooke noted that it got to a place where she felt it was “not nourishing.” “I think the celebri-fied nature of being an actor has now snowballed into this monster. And I just think we need to get off this train and realize that we make these TV shows and films, yes, for escapism, but also because it’s artful and it’s creative and it’s not for followers or for a brand deal or to get free shit. Even though that is nice sometimes.”
As for her relationship with director Clare Kilner, Cooke told the magazine that Kilner proves “you don’t have to stomp around the set and exert testosterone. You can just handle each department with kindness and care.”
“House of the Dragon” first aired on HBO in 2022. The prequel series earned three Golden Globe nominations and one win for best television series, drama. It’s been nominated for 14 Emmys and won 2: outstanding fantasy/sci-fi costumes in 2023 and outstanding period or fantasy/sci-fi makeup (non-prosthetic) in 2025.
