'House of the Dragon' star Olivia Cooke reveals she auditioned for Rhaenyra

Olivia Cooke earned her breakthrough role as Alicent Hightower in the Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragons. But she initially had her heart set on another part.

During an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast on Monday, June 22, the actress revealed she first auditioned for the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen — who was ultimately portrayed by Emma D’Arcy — for a very “vain” reason.

“I think my wanting Rhaenyra initially was – I was desperate to be blonde,” Cooke, 32, admitted. “It was so vain, it was like, ‘I want to wear that wig,’” she added, referring to the Targaryen’s characteristic platinum blonde hair.

Noting that it was “such a shallow thought,” the actress recalled that when she began auditioning for Rhaenyra’s childhood best friend Alicent, she thought, “Oh, this is who I’m, sort of, meant to play.”

The casting worked out perfectly as Cook and D’Arcy’s on-screen chemistry was off the charts, thanks largely to their real-life bond which developed over three seasons. 

“Chemistry is such a mystical thing that you can't bottle or recreate. You can try and act it, but it’s hard when you don’t actually have that in real life,” Cooke said.

She added of D’Arcy, who uses they/them pronouns, “It makes it easier when we actually have a real bond and we really get on. I am so excited about their performance and what they’re going to do, and it’s so exciting and it makes me react in a different way, and we really can play in those moments and it’s safe and we trust each other.”