The world of Game of Thrones returned to HBO in 2022 with House of the Dragon, just a few years following the original series’ divisive finale. Like how plenty of viewers have been pretty ruthless about the Thrones finale, House of the Dragon and its cast have gotten plenty of hate over two seasons so far. Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent Hightower in the hit drama, opened up about the brutal feedback she and her costars have received, but also credited two actors from Team Black for how they handled it.
Like Game of Thrones before it, House of the Dragon (which will arrive at some point after the 2025 TV schedule) started out pretty faithfully to George R.R Martin’s source material but then diverged later on in some directions that have been controversial with readers and non-readers alike. If you checked in on social media when the first season and especially the second season of HOTD were releasing, you likely spotted some hateful comments from viewers who didn’t like the direction of the series... to put it nicely.
That’s certainly not to say that all House of the Dragon viewers have been toxic towards the people involved in the show, but the dark side of the fandom has clearly made an impression on Olivia Cooke. She told THR:
Some of the fans have been fucking horrible to our cast. It makes me really angry that we’re then supposed to just bow down and [pay] obeisance to these people that only want to say the most debased, hate-filled things. But thankfully, we’ve all experienced it in our own way, and we’ve got each other, which doesn’t make it right.
I don’t think many TV viewers are innocent of criticizing even their favorite shows, and George R.R Martin himself publicly aired some grievances about Season 2 before deleting his comments. That said, there's a difference between criticizing and targeting incredibly harsh comments towards actors who are just performing what's written for them. Cooke went on to share that she’s also had “wonderful” experiences, and credited some of her costars for how they deal with the hate:
I think [it’s the] huge emotions. There’s also been really wonderful interactions and I’m so glad that Emma [D'Arcy] gets as much love as they do as well, because they’re fucking fantastic and such a beautiful, wonderful human as well… Matt [Smith]'s not a stranger to the fury of fandom so he takes it on the chin. He holds himself in a really lovely way where he doesn’t let it stick to him.
Emma D’Arcy took over the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen after the Season 1 time jump, and opened up about being tired of being asked about gendered awards categories as well as pitching a fun idea for her character. D’Arcy and Cooke were on the same page about how “exhausting” Season 2 was to film, with Season 2 ultimately featuring a surprising number of scenes between Alicent and Rhaenyra despite being on opposite sides of the Targaryen civil war.
As for Matt Smith, House of the Dragon isn’t even his first time playing a lead role in a fantasy series with a very passionate fanbase. While the Eleventh Doctor seems to be a fan-favorite nowadays, I recall his Doctor Who character getting a rough reception back in the day from some viewers who may not have been ready to say goodbye to David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. (Smith is also heading over to Star Wars, so strong reactions from viewers clearly haven’t turned him off of joining big franchises.)
For now, the wait is still on for Season 3 of House of the Dragon, which is expected to arrive on HBO at some point in 2026. Whatever happens, hopefully the stars won’t have as much hate to deal with moving forward. In the meantime, you can always revisit the first two seasons streaming with an HBO Max subscription.
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