Olivia Cooke used a Happy Sad Confused podcast appearance this week to address something that has quietly nagged at her since she first took the role of Alicent Hightower: she is 32 years old and playing a grandmother, cast opposite sons portrayed by actors only marginally younger than herself.
The conversation turned pointed when host Josh Horowitz raised Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays her eldest son Aegon II. “When I found out that Tom Glynn-Carney was auditioning for my son, I was like, ‘What?'” Cooke said. “I was like, ‘Are they going to recast Alicent again and do another age jump? How’s this going to work?'” She paused before landing on the industry-wide diagnosis she has been circling for years: “I feel like, ‘God, is this just the industry? Is this just Hollywood? They don’t want to see women age, you know? I think it’s a big leap for the audience to make.'” She added, with characteristic dry humor: “Or maybe I’m just a fantastic actor.”
The observation carries a specific sting because the series has the tools to do otherwise. Cooke made this argument as far back as the Season 2 press cycle in 2024. “If they can create dragons, they could have made me look younger — and then older,” she told The Times. “Or maybe they should have cast actors in their forties?” She acknowledged her gratitude for the role while refusing to let the tension disappear: “It’s happened now and I’m grateful for the role, but I’ve just turned 30 and I’m playing a grandma. There is a real reticence to see women age on screen. A real reticence.”
The same podcast conversation surfaced a separate candid moment. Cooke confirmed she auditioned twice for the role of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens — once in Los Angeles and once with director J.J. Abrams — before the part went to Daisy Ridley. “I was s—. I was really bad,” she said flatly. “You know when you go into an audition, and you’re just not bringing it, and you’ve let yourself down, you’ve let everyone down in the room?” She had nothing but praise for Ridley’s eventual performance.
House of the Dragon Season 3, in which Alicent is expected to survive through the final season based on the source material, is currently airing on HBO.
