What new character dimensions has the kick-off of this Targaryen civil war opened up for you to play in season two?
It’s created a massive chasm, and I think Alicent feels deeply responsible for it. She knew that by anointing her son, some sort of fallout would follow. I think Aemond killing Lucerys in the sky [last season] really sealed that deal, and with the retaliation that happens in episode one, Alicent can’t help but feel responsible . . . She’s just scrambling to make things right — whatever “right” is to her. But there’s a deep love for Rhaenyra still, that has been sort of cauterized along the way. We embark on season two with her desperate to have an audience with Rhaenyra to try and state her case, but Rhaenyra is in an immense amount of grief because her son was just brutally murdered by my son. It’s like, “Where do you go from there?”
What does this messy feud between the two Targaryen factions have to say about our own, present-day culture?
It becomes tribal, doesn’t it? You stop seeing the point of why people are fighting. They’ve just picked a side and they don’t know why they’re fighting. It becomes so murky. You can see that, especially with political parties in America and the U.K., you sort of just align yourself with one — you don’t read the fine print anymore or actually check in with yourself.
On that note, what does the show have to say about the struggles faced by women in positions of power?
It continues to be an almost impossibility to rule. When men put women on a pedestal to rule, it almost feels patronizing. Like, “Oh, we’ll give them this one, but the order will be restored after them.” I feel like that is the way people look at Rhaenyra and her claim to the throne, and I think that’s what people see in Alicent when she’s been ruling in [her late husband] Viserys’ stead. “It’s only for now. We’re just putting a Band-Aid over the whole situation . . .”
As you’ve said before, Rhaenyra and Alicent are arguably the two most level-headed people in the realm. Yet, they’re so often ignored or dismissed.
Yeah, I think they’re constantly on damage control. The men — and it’s not dissimilar to how it is now [in the real world] — they want legacy, they want their names in the history books. They’re thinking about mythology and stories that will be told for years to come about how amazing they were in battle . . . or they were “Viserys the Peaceful” — [naming themselves] before they’ve even barely ruled. It’s all about fame and infamy. It’s incredibly frustrating . . . Women are so adept at coming from under to whisper honey into the men’s ears in order to shape them delicately and gradually.
Beyond military victory on the battlefield, what aspect of herself does Alicent need to defeat?
I think shame and guilt are big ones for Alicent. I think she’s propelled by that. I think she is deeply self-hating, and I think she’s starting to reckon with the fact that what Otto [her father] shaped her to be is a pawn for something that doesn’t have her best intentions or the intentions of Helaena [her daughter] at heart. So, she’s wondering where she sits in all this when the walls are crumbling around her . . . What are [duty and sacrifice] when you’re just a political pawn for the ascension of these men?
The season finale of House of the Dragon airs Sunday, August 4 on HBO Canada
MEMORABLE ROLES:
A young English actress who’s been steadily on the rise for the past decade, you likely first saw Cooke as Emma Decody, best friend of budding serial killer Norman Bates on A&E’s Psycho prequel Bates Motel. From there, she went on to co-lead breakout indie dramedy Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, as well as TV period piece Vanity Fair, Oscar-winning drama Sound of Metal and Apple’s acclaimed British espionage series Slow Horses.
CURRENT GIG:
On her biggest stage to date, the Oldham native plays dowager queen Alicent Hightower in HBO’s hit Game of Thrones prequel — an embattled, conflicted monarch trapped in a fiery civil war with her ex-best friend Rhaenyra Targaryen for the always-elusive Iron Throne.