House of the Dragon star Emily Carey has admitted to feeling ‘scared’ to shoot sex scenes in the HBO fantasy series due to the 30 year age gap with her co-star Paddy Considine.
Carey, 19, plays Alicent Hightower in the House Targaryen prequel – Alicent marries King Viserys, who is played by Paddy Considine, 49.
In the latest episode, Viserys and Alicent have been married for roughly three years and have two children, son Aegon and daughter Helaena.
Partway through the episode, Alicent is awoken by her maid in the middle of the night and informed that Viserys has ‘requested her presence’. In the following scene, Alicent lies still while Viserys has sex with her.
Speaking about that moment, Emily admitted that she was initially ‘scared’ to film the scene.
Speaking to Newsweek, she said: “It scared me because, at that point, I still hadn’t met Paddy. I didn’t know how much of a joy he was and how easy he was going to make the scene.
“The first scene that I read from the show was my sex scene and my intimacy scenes. All I saw was, you know, a 47-year-old man and me, I was a bit concerned.”
Emily also shared that, after watching Game of Thrones in preparation for the role, the ‘violent sex’ featured in the hit series made her nervous, as she said: “I was like, “Oh God, what am I gonna have to do in this show?”
However, Emily says she was comforted by the on-set presence of an intimacy coordinator, who have become industry standard since the 2017 #MeToo movement.
She concluded: “Having that outlet, to be able to talk everything through and not be shunned, or not feel awkward.
“In the rehearsal room, she was a massive help and on set she was a massive help. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
Sky Atlantic’s House of the Dragon makes its debut three years after the HBO epic came to an end, following eight tumultuous series which made a host of stars – from Kit Harington to Emilia Clarke – household names.
The new show takes place 172 years before Thrones and is based on George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, telling the story of House Targaryen.
The show has already been renewed for a second season, after the series premiere delivered 10 million viewers overnight – an HBO record for a series opener and roughly on par with the premiere of Game of Thrones season six.
House of The Dragon is available to stream on NOW.
