Olivia Cooke, who is set to star in Game of Thrones prequel series House of The Dragon, admits she hadn't watched the original HBO series before auditioning. The smash-hit show, which ran for eight seasons from 2011 to 2019, was a genuine pop-cultural phenomenon, counting among its fans people from across the globe, whether they enjoyed traditional fantasy shows or not. Based on the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones dominated ratings for its entire run, despite a sharp decline in quality in its later seasons.
HBO will roll cameras on the prequel, House of The Dragon, sometime in 2021. The spinoff series will focus on the Targaryen family and will be set in Westeros some 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Cooke's casting as Alicent Hightower, the "most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms," was announced in December last year. She is being joined in the cast by Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, Peaky Blinders), Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown), and Emma D'arcy (Wanderlust, Truthseekers), who will play King Viserys, Prince Daemon, and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen respectively. But Cooke admits she wasn't familiar with the show until getting cast.
Speaking to Variety about her audition for House of The Dragon, the actress says she hadn't watched Game of Thrones before. However, knowing she'd have to be familiar with the material, Cooke says once she got the audition, which involved doing "many self-tapes," she binged the show and is now "obsessed" with it. She also reveals she was cast in October but couldn't tell anyone until the news was announced in December. You can read her full comments below:
When I read the script, I hadn’t seen any Game of Thrones. But then I binged it and now I’m obsessed. I had to do so many self-tapes. I was on hold for ages. People would ask, "What’s up for you next?" and I’d have to be like, "Nothing."
Cooke, who is best known for her movie roles in Ready Player One, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and potential 2021 Oscar contender Sound of Metal, was perhaps one of the few people left not to have seen an episode of Game of Thrones, given the show's popularity. Given she's obsessed now, though, fans will forgive her for coming late to the party. Hopefully, she's also had time to read Martin's books, including Fire and Blood, Martin's history of the Targaryen family, which will form the basis for the prequel series.
Whether House of The Dragon can live up to Game of Thrones' reputation remains to be seen, but fans will be hoping that the series will at least improve on the woeful final season of the latter show. The disappointing ending of the popular series left a bitter taste in many fan's mouths, so if the prequel is good, it will go some way to making up for it. At least they can rest assured Cooke will be familiar with the universe by the time shooting starts.
Source: Variety