In an interview with Interview Magazine, Emily Carey talked about her journey starring as Alicent Hightower during House of the Dragon’s first half. Before even landing on set, Carey and co-star Milly Alcock made plans to get to know each other. The reason for that was because it was a really scary and daunting experience coming onto a project like House of the Dragon and knowing no one. Alcock, who was cast first, wanted to know who Carey was as soon as the latter joined the show.
“We were given each other’s emails, which just felt way too formal. So I stalked her Instagram and slid into her DMs and was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to be working with each other. I think we should get to know each other.’ We met up a few times throughout the rehearsal period. I remember FaceTiming while she was still in Australia. Luckily for us, the chemistry came quite organically. We get along great in real life. So it all happened very naturally.”
It was a niche, shared experience for both of them, as it was for most of the cast. According to Carey, even some of the “legendary actors” were taken aback by the scale of the set. Its predecessor, Game of Thrones, was one of the biggest TV shows ever and the same can probably be said of House of the Dragon.
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“It’s a strange little bubble to be in, especially when it was all top-secret. Throughout the first few months of filming, we actually couldn’t tell anyone what we were doing, so we sort of clung to each other. We’d go out for drinks and have a debrief at the end of each week. We literally couldn’t talk to anyone else. But at the same time, I don’t think I would’ve wanted to. As I said, it’s such a niche experience. I don’t think we’ve let go since.”
Carey doesn’t think that you ever really could prepare yourself for the scale of the show. Before it was released, Carey prepared herself in every way she thought she could and still thought, “Wow, I was so not prepared for that” when House of the Dragon was finally released. Going into shooting, Carey tried not to think about the fans or Game of Thrones because it would have served as a distracted from the job at hand.
“The only people on that you should be trying to—please is the wrong word, but keep happy—are the creative team that is on set with you. So I just put a lot of trust in them, and if Miguel [Sapochnik] and Ryan [Condal] were smiling, I assumed I was doing okay, and I tried not to think about what Twitter might say when the episode came out.”
Related: House of the Dragon: What Happened to Laenor in Driftmark?
The Acting
HBO
During Carey’s five-episode run during the first season, many of her scenes were one-on-one situations with other characters giving long monologues and having to play off that. For Carey, that kind of dialogue work, big speeches or long paragraphs, is really enjoyable. What Carey likes about that is that it gives things so much more depth. Even a scene with no words can say a considerable amount.
“That scene with Fabien [Frankel], who plays Criston Cole, when he confesses, that was a huge scene for the both of us, not just emotions-wise, but remembering all of our dialogue. And in the same way with the scenes with Paddy [Considine] where I get my lessons, I gained so much respect for him. I mean, Paddy is outstanding to watch. It’s electric when he’s performing and you’re actually in the room with him, let alone when he’s looking at you and he is King Viserys. It’s remarkable.”
For Carey, looking back on any specific memorable scenes or anecdotes from filming encapsulating the project, two moments sprang to mind. The first one is the scene from Carey’s last episode, so far, when Alicent’s father Otto (Rhys Ifans) has been dismissed as the Hand to the king and he’s warning Alicent as he leaves. Within this father/daughter dynamic, whenever they should say ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m going to miss you,’ it turns into an argument.
“But in this scene, they hug, which is strange, and both of them are very emotional, which again is strange. Alicent is suddenly being left to face the truth of this ugly world that they live in, and she’s being left in the hands of the men around her. But from my perspective, I think the scene that is very reminiscent of the show was the very beginning of episode one, the tourney.”
When the cast members talk about the tourney scene in interviews, they usually say how fun it was to shoot because it was the first time the whole cast had gotten together as an ensemble. Carey said it felt like one big dysfunctional family, this big group scene that went on for so long, so it took about a week or so to film. According to Carey, a dysfunctional family is precisely what their show is about.
Olivia Cooke now plays the adult Alicent after a 10-year time jump. According to Carey, it was almost a choice from the creative team that after so many years, Carey and Cooke might as well be playing two completely different characters. So there really wasn’t any need to talk about where Carey was leaving off and Cooke was picking up. And while it wasn’t that they weren’t able to talk, it never came to fruition.
“But that being said, it did feel weird to not talk to her. I would’ve taken it as an opportunity to get some security in what I was doing at the time, which now I know would not have been a good idea, so I’m kind of glad we didn’t have that time to chat about the character, because I think I would’ve just been anxiously picking her brain asking, ‘Am I doing okay, am I doing all right, am I doing the right thing?’”
Carey would have been intrigued to see if Cooke would’ve played young Alicent in the same way. If Carey played young Alicent the same way Cooke imagined. According to Carey as an actor, when you read a character, you think about their backstory and what got them to the place they are now. Carey thought it must have been strange for Cooke to have it on paper but not have gotten to play it.
“We all filmed at the same time, so there’d be days I’d run into Olivia in the makeup trailer and it would be like, ‘Oh, this is weird. Hello.’ But it’s a strange feeling leaving a character’s journey halfway through. I feel like Alicent’s story feels unfinished, because it is—which is why Olivia’s finishing it. But it’s an odd feeling. I wouldn’t say it’s an uncomfortable or sad feeling. Of course it’s bittersweet, but I’m just so excited to see what Olivia does.”
Right now, Carey is excited to sit back and appreciate House of the Dragon for what it is rather than critiquing her own performance—also saying that it was an honor to play the younger version of Cooke, who Carey has admired for years. Regarding the acting she’ll be doing now that she’s off the show, there isn’t a huge amount that Carey can talk about just yet.
“But it’s all very exciting. It’s a lot of newness. I’m still slightly overwhelmed, but I have an incredible team. I have amazing friends and family who are keeping me grounded. I genuinely don’t know what’s coming next, which is quite nice. It’s been a whirlwind of an experience. But other than acting, I just got back from Milan literally yesterday. I’ve been exploring the fashion space, which is something I’ve never really had the privilege of doing before. It’s never been something that was accessible to me, so that’s very exciting. I keep saying exciting, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, so I’m just living my best life.”
You can view the original article HERE.
