Olivia Cooke says "ugliness" of House Of The Dragon fandom made her take social media break
The Alicent Hightower actor told GQ Hype that there's "a lot of ugliness" to the fandom and it's also "steeped in misogyny."
Photo: Theo Whiteman/HBO
Before season three of House Of The Dragon premiered over the summer, Olivia Cooke had already anticipated the fresh crop of online opinions, comments, and baseless assumptions, so she took a social media break to protect her sanity. In a new interview with GQ Hype published today, Cooke, who stars as Queen Alicent on the Game Of Thrones spin-off, said that she spent this year focusing on improving her mental health. Part of that goal meant staying clear of the chatter surrounding the series, which, during the most recent season, involved disgusted reactions regarding incest (not an uncommon theme in the GOT universe) and complaints that Alicent had too much screen time. According to GQ, some Redditors also assumed that Cooke was at the mercy of a director’s toxic whims and was being exploited. “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.” Cooke also defended director Clare Kilner, saying that she’s proof that “you don’t have to stomp around the set and exert testosterone. You can just handle each department with kindness and care.”
Keep scrolling for more great stories.