The next episode of HBO Dragon House will now welcome Olivia Cooke as the former Alicent Hightower. Set two hundred years before the events of game of thronesthe prequel series will follow the story of House Targaryen and their fall from grace.
Dragon HouseShowrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal ran production on the series until the former left the series. The prequel was adapted from George RR Martin’s novel, Fire & Blood. As in the original series, the characters fight with their lives for the coveted Iron Throne.
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How Olivia Cooke Changed Alicent’s Representation In House Of The Dragon
Olivia Cooke, who plays older Alicent Hightower, will make her debut in the next episode of Dragon House. The redesign was made to represent the ten-year time jump. In his interview with Weekly entertainment, Cooke revealed that she helped shape the character of Alicent after Emily Carey’s portrayal. Sapochnik and Condal asked the actress to portray Alicent as “a wife for trump.” Cooke decided to go his own way.
“I just didn’t want to give them any more mental space than they already had. So, I tried to find a different path to her, but I could see what they were saying with this complete indoctrination and denial of her own autonomy and rights. I just couldn’t be asked to take this road.”
The Dragon House star also mentioned how Alicent has changed so much over the years.
“You see her struggling with her femininity and the power she has to play being completely separated from her husband or her father or even her children. And also just morally where she stands when she no longer listens to her father.”
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From villain to victim of injustice
The way Cooke portrayed Alicent will show how the character was transformed into a “perfect ship for its [Otto Hightower] rise to powerand how she fell victim to the patriarchal and misogynistic environment in which she lives.
Cooke decided to stray from the path the showrunners wanted her to follow for personal reasons. The actress said that Alicent was meant to raise powerful men, which is her only role in life, and she learns to live within the “yoke of oppression.” She wanted to show how these injustices affect her and how she”always had to walk this tightrope all his life.”
It was indeed important for the actress to show that Alicent is still human. Cooke has no intention of justifying the mistakes the character will make on the show, but fans have to recognize that Alicent will do anything for her children. Fans will also notice that Alicent in Dragon House is friendlier than his character in the book.
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