House of the Dragon Stars Cooke, D’Arcy Received Advice from GOT Cast

At the premiere of HBO’s House of the Dragon, star Olivia Cooke, who plays Lady Alicent Hightower, revealed that she and co-star Emma D’Arcy, who plays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, received some friendly advice from a couple of Game of Thrones alum, Maisie Williams and Emilia Clarke. Williams played the youngest Stark daughter Arya, who became the series’ major hero when she struck down the Night King during “The Longest Night.” Clarke played Daenarys Targaryen, the would-be queen of the Iron Throne, before her genocidal vengeful nature got the best of her, ending up on the receiving end of a dagger from her love, Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and dying in his arms.

“Yeah, me and Maisie texted a little bit,” Cooke told The Hollywood Reporter. “And then Emma had dinner with Emilia, and they gleamed a lot of knowledge from that. I think Emilia, from what Emma has said, was really generous. Me and Maisie had a few texts, but I worked with Maisie when I was 18, and she was like 15. So I’ve known her for a long time.” Cook and Williams both starred in the BBC miniseries The Secret of Crickley Hall.

In House of the Dragon, Cooke’s Alicent is the daughter of Ser Otto Hightower, raised in the Red Keep (at King’s Landing) and part of the king’s inner circle. She’s known as the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. Emily Carey plays her younger counterpart. D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra is King Visery’s (Paddy Considine) firstborn child, a dragonrider who epects to become the Seven Kingdoms’ first queen regnant. Milly Alcock plays her younger counterpart. The series, which also stars Matt Smith, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans premieres on August 21st on HBO and HBO Max.