Actress Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses, A Talent for Murder), known for her role as Queen Alicent Hightower in the HBO series House of the Dragon gives an explanation regarding here withdrawal from social media. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cooke’s reason behind the break was due to “a lot of ugliness ” in the House of the Dragon fandom.
For those who don’t know, House of the Dragon is a series that follows the Targaryen dynasty where they sit upon the Iron Throne and rule over Westeros. Rhaenrya Targaryen was set to be the next in line to ascend the Iron Throne, however in true Game of Thrones fashion there were those who wished to see her fail and not sit the Iron Throne. One of the saboteurs, Otto Hightower wanted his grandson Aegon Hightower to sit the Iron Throne and through a usurpation Rhaenrya was cast aside for Ageon to Rule.
Cooke issued this statement to GQ regarding why she took a break from social media via The Hollywood Reporter: “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,” Cooke said. “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.”
“I was just like, I’m on this too much. It’s not nourishing,” she said. “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 realise 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.”
The cast consists of Matt Smith (The Death of Bunny Munro, Caught Stealing), Fabian Frankel (Task, The Actor), Steve Toussaint (Eyes of Wakanda, Prawn Bhuna), Emma D’Arcy (Rhoda, The Talent), Cooke, Sonoya Mizuno (Star Wars: Vision, Eternal Return), Kurt Egyiawan (Andor, The Agency: Central Intelligence), Rhys Ifans (Inheritance, Venom: The Last Dance), Matthew Needham (The Generators, Napoleon), Jefferson Hall (Three, Oppenheimer), Ewan Mitchell (Wuthering Heights, Saltburn), Paul Kennedy (Miss Scarlet, Ancient Empires), Harry Collett (Closing In, Why Wouldn’t I Be?), Bethany Antonia (The War Master, Call Me Master), and Phia Saban (House of the Dragon, The Last Kingdom).
The series can currently be streamed on HBO Max.
