Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 5 AheadEmily Carey has been outstanding through five episodes of House of the Dragon. She consistently steals every scene she’s in and finally makes her presence really felt in the debut season’s fifth episode. Her character, Alicent Hightower, has gone through a rollercoaster of emotions with Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock). Their relationship reached a breaking point in We light the waythe most recent installment in the series, which premiered on September 18.
The trouble started when Alicent married Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys, in the second episode of the series. Her character may have gotten a bad rap after the marriage between the two; However, Emily Carey insists that her character is not a villain. During an interview with Varietyadmits the 19-year-old actress makes questionable choices, but nothing that would make the character irreparable.
Marrying Viserys is a choice. But it was never her choice to make. The choice was made by the men around her. The amount of misogyny Rhaenyra faces is just as much for Alicent. I read the books. some questionable choices – let’s put it this way. But that’s not the adolescent I play. I play her early in her life. The “rogue origin story,” in quotes, because I personally don’t believe the Alicent who I play a villain.”
While Carey will not be allowed to play a villain, the actress will no longer be playing the role of Alicent. Instead, Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy join the cast of House of the Dragon next week, taking over the parts of Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen respectively. Alicent is quite upset after the events of episode 5 where she now knows about Rhaenyra’s lie and is completely loyal to her own House Hightower. The bet has been raised in House of the Dragonand fans are excited to see where the series goes from here.
Emily Carey is proud to hand over the role to Olivia Cooke
Emily Carey played younger versions of characters in other projects, including iconic roles like Wonder Woman and Lara Croft. However, the actor admits that it was strange to get so attached to a character for five episodes only to switch actresses midway through the first season.
She tells Variety, “It’s very strange to have so much freedom and so much ownership of a role, and then not even be able to read the rest of the scripts because it was so top secret.” Carey continued: “I’m incredibly excited to see Olivia and Emma [D’Arcy] do their thing. They are both the sweetest people ever, and I have admired Olivia’s work for years and years. So to be able to give her a role as one of all people fills me with such joy and pride.”
Although Emily Carey and Milly Alcock are leaving the show, the actress has left a potential return in future seasons on the air for now. Fans can watch Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy perform in their new roles when House of the Dragon goes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. premiered on HBO and HBO Max