Olivia Cooke continues to navigate an often toxic “House of the Dragon” fandom that is, according to her, “steeped in misogyny” and “racism.”
In an interview with GQ published Monday, Cooke discussed the vocal fanbase surrounding the “Game of Thrones” prequel, in which she plays Alicent Hightower. She said the reaction to the show’s third season, which aired over the summer, could get ugly at times. She tries to give the online discourse as little “mental real estate” as possible, but the backlash was one factor in her decision to deactivate her social media accounts during her break.
“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.”
Many of the complaints from fans come from departures from George R.R. Martin’s source material books. Some of the big ones that caused a stir in the third season was a scene where Cooke’s Alicent had a reluctant kiss with her son Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and then in later episode was featured in a dream sequence where Alicent and Aemond were having sex.
Among the many decrying the HBO show’s many departures over the seasons is Martin himself. While he’s certainly not targeting Cooke, he has had plenty to say about showrunner Ryan Condal’s decision making over the years. It reached a head at the end of Season 2 where the author aired his grievances over the infamous Blood and Cheese scene on his blog.
“As I saw it, the ‘Sophie’s Choice’ aspect was the strongest part of the sequence, the darkest, the most visceral,” Martin wrote. “I hated to lose that. And judging from the comments online, most of the fans seemed to agree.”
He added at the time: “And there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if ‘House of the Dragon’ goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for Seasons 3 and 4…”
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