Emma DArcy and Olivia Cooke relive Rhaenyra and Alicents season-one arc.
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This interview was originally published on October 25, 2022.
Were recirculating it ahead of tonights premiere ofHouse of the Dragonseason two.
Its like, Choose your favorite war criminal as Ive seen from a tweet.
In scenes together, Cookes arch line deliveries andholier-than-thousmirks spark against DArcys regal defensiveness and cool anger.
Were watching them together this evening.
Olivia Cooke:But relief.
ED:Yeah,episode seven.
Last scene wasepisode eight, dinner.
OC:We started with a big ensemble scene and ended with a big ensemble scene.
It was like feeling each others ribs that are protruding because were so weathered from the experience.
By a stroke of masterful timetabling, the family dinner was the last scene of the whole shoot.
It had an air of finality about it.
OC:I felt like I finally knew who my character was, and also in relation to Rhaenyra.
I could imbue it with so much more than I couldve and tried to do at first.
Its this amazing thing that happens very rarely and requires a great mixture of people.
Everything feels very obvious; nuanced interrelations suddenly feel incredibly obvious.
As an actor, those moments are sublime.
You have no idea if its going to translate, obviously, but it feels great.
What felt obvious about in those moments?ED:I was thinking specifically of the toast.
OC:They see each other for the first time [in years].
Thats what the whole series has been about: trying to get back to each other.
Its a step in the right direction.
But to proclaim love wouldve felt too soon.
There is love there, but definitely not at the forefront.
To name it is to begin to disarm the chasm, the trauma, the difficulty, the pain.
OC:We exist in a series of looks and chess pieces and hearsay and ravens.
We dont ever get to see the words in front of us.
For a patriarchal system, the rift works.
To stand up in front of their whole mini-universe and offer the possibility of reconciliation is a radical act.
They live in this society that rewards [them] when that happens.
Speaking to a woman who was also fucked by this system and trying to appeal to that was unifying.
Theres a different quality to it.
You cant really quantify it until you see the scene on television.
ED:The irony is, we dont get that many scenes solely with another female character.
Its a very revealing and uncomfortable conversation.
What do you remember about filming yourintroductory scene?ED:I had a great day.
Theres a going-onstage element to big, virtuosic follow shots that go on for five or ten minutes.
OC:We were so aware that it was our reveal as characters.
What is so frustrating for Alicent is the willful ignorance of the king and his disciples.
ED:I just remember your masterstroke of taking the baby from Paddy.
OC:Did you?
Theres this very taut relationship with the possibility that she will be incapacitated in the same way.
I dont know that she sees that coming, and actually, quite surprisingly, she loves it.
She gets to build a little family in her own image.
This causes even more bitterness toward Rhaenyra, who shes watched take to motherhood so easily.
Luke slashes Aemonds face, causing him to lose an eye.
I was going insane toward the end.
ED:Its such an interesting scene, right?
My sympathy is fully with Alicent.
On the page I was like,Well, shes fucking right.
OC:Someones lost an eye.
ED:Someones lost an eye!
Im so amazed every time Paddy basically tells you to let it go.
OC:Alicents being gaslit massively and she fucking explodes.
Early on, she loses both her best friend and her father because they get married.
With Alicent, because of her public display of violence,shes taken to religion to repent.
Rhaenyra brings that quite masculine leadership and fiery decisive thing people seem to like.
But Alicent actually has the skill set required to manage and plan ahead.
OC:Patience, and a bit more methodical.
Itd be yin and yang.
Itd be so good.
I have never seen someone pull off a more realistic portrayal of birth.
It was so insular, like you were about to set off a rocket inside you.
Then just the relief, and the pain as well you perform pain so fucking well.
Its really hard to do, but you dont overegg it.
ED:I feel this is an annoying question, because I obviously havent seen episode nine yet.
OC:Youre like, I love the performance of your feet.
ED:Your eyes speak in full sentences.
Living, not showing.
There are not that many people who can actually do that.
Im amazed at the rigor with which your whole body lives that painful, undermining relationship.
Im really moved by characters who are so cornered.
OC:Id love to do a comedy next.
[Both laugh.]
Im joking, Im joking!
In the dinner scene, episode eight, I have an aside toFabien.
I snipped at him quite callously, like, Youve been dismissed.
I loved doing that.
Olivia,youve saidthat after the show premieres that on some level, its not yours anymore.
We cant really do that anymore.
ED:No, dont say that.
Then you start to get paranoid that everyones looking at you I did on the tube the other day.
Well just have to have house parties instead.
But there was a vacuum briefly, and that was really special.
But we still didnt believe it.Thats not going to happen to us.
ED:You were saying that two weeks ago, mate.
OC:I was saying that two weeks ago.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
