House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke calls out the “ugliness” in the Game of Thrones fandom
One major House of the Dragon star has taken aim at the Game of Thrones fandom’s ‘ugliness’ over takes on her character — but which star has had enough?
Let's be honest, if there's one thing the Game of Thrones universe always delivers, it's a bit of chaos—on screen and off. And now, it's Olivia Cooke (who plays Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon) in the middle of things, as she's decided to call out parts of the fandom for the way her character's been interpreted since the latest season aired.
In a chat with GQ, Cooke said bluntly about some of the more questionable readings of Alicent: "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."
She didn't stop there, either—the stuff happening online while Season 3 dropped was so intense, she stepped away from Instagram entirely, only reappearing half a year later. If you're wondering, Cooke was missing from the app from April to October, coming back only after Season 3's dust had more or less settled.
Trouble in the Fanbase
This all kicked off when Season 3 arrived with a handful of properly off-piste storylines involving Alicent. Most talked about? The extremely uncomfortable—some would say needlessly shocking—scene between Alicent and her son, Aemond: a kiss neither looked thrilled about, followed up by Aemond's dream with his mother taking a rather, let's say, intimate turn. The internet, unsurprisingly, exploded, and Cooke found herself at the centre of a storm about what was and wasn't really going on with her character.
She clearly wasn't thrilled with where online speculation went. In the same interview, Cooke wasn't subtle about the less savoury parts of the Thrones fandom either, mentioning there's quite a lot of 'ugliness' in certain corners—strong words that include misogyny and racism all bubbling up on her feeds. She's not letting it mess with her head, but you can see why she'd want to disappear for a bit.
On Working with the Team
If you've come across rumours Cooke was forced into dodgy scenes by directors, she's nipped that in the bud. She made it clear her working relationship with Clare Kilner (one of the show's main directors) has been solid, with Cooke crediting Kilner for running a set focused on respect and calm, not egos or bravado.
As Cooke explained about director Clare Kilner: "You don't have to stomp around the set and exert testosterone. You can just handle each department with kindness and care."
So, anyone imagining some wild behind-the-scenes disaster—sorry, nothing to see there. In fact, Cooke sounds pretty chuffed about how things have run, at least from her corner.
- Olivia Cooke went off social media between April and October 2025 due to toxic fandom reactions during House of the Dragon Season 3.
- The third season's release featured controversial storylines for Alicent Hightower, sparking heated fan debate.
- Cooke debunked claims of mistreatment by the show's directors, speaking positively about her experience on set.
Cooke deleted Instagram for half a year while Season 3 aired, only returning in October 2025.
And a quick update for those keeping track: Alicent Hightower survives all the way to the end of Season 3, so unless the writers have one last wild card up their sleeves, Cooke should be back for the already-announced final season. Based on how HBO's been spacing things out, House of the Dragon Season 4 is most likely to hit screens somewhere in the middle of 2028.