Olivia Cooke debuted on House of the Dragon as Alicent in the Hightower branch of the Targaryen family tree, taking over the role as the adult version of the queen after Emily Carey played the teen version. Many fans have already taken sides when it comes to Alicent vs. Rhaenyra as civil wars looms in the world of Westeros, and Cooke has seen plenty of hate for her character. She has found a way to shake it off, however, as she revealed with House of the Dragon Season 2 on the way!
While House of the Dragon has arguably made Alicent look a lot better in the show than she does in the book, she made some moves in Season 1 that guaranteed fans of the Blacks – a.k.a. supporters of Rhaenyra and Daemon – would lump her in with the rest of the hated Greens, a.k.a. the Hightowers and their supporters. Speaking on the Unwrapped podcast, Olivia Cooke weighed in on her character getting criticism:
