Olivia Cooke revealed that Alicent Hightower had more intimate scenes with Fabien Frankel’s Criston Cole in the second season of House of the Dragon, but the most intense of it was ultimately left in the editing room.
Alicent and Criston’s relationship is displayed full-on in the second installment, but the show made sure it would not be the focus. The audience would only get a few seconds of the pair having romantic rendezvous and that would be it.
House of the Dragon Removed Olivia Cooke and Fabien Frankel’s Intense Bed Scene
George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood gave no hint of Alicent Hightower and Criston Cole’s romance, but House of the Dragon used this tactic to bring more layers to these two characters who once used to be allies with Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Olivia Cooke revealed in her interview with Elle magazine that they shot more intense bed scenes for Season 2, but not all of it made it to the final edit. She and Fabien Frankel even had a super raunchy scene that the actress described as almost “carnal” and “animalistic”. She said, “It was messy as f—k. It wasn’t beautiful, and that was really fun to do.”
Showrunner Ryan Condal did not find any significance or added value in the scene so he decided to scrap it altogether. Alicent and Criston have had enough steamy scenes and fans don’t need any more proof that they are so into each other.
Cooke’s description of the act meant it was only for the audience’s entertainment. It might also further s*xualize Alicent, which is a mistake that Game of Thrones made with Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen.
Martin notably hated how David Benioff and Dan Weiss changed the situation during the Khaleesi’s wedding night. In the book, Khal Drogo did not abuse his new wife. They shared a consensual consummation. He said via James Hibbard’s Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon:
Why did the wedding scene change from the consensual seduction scene that excited even a horse to the brutal r*pe of Emilia Clarke? We never discussed it. It made it worse, not better.
From this scene, the show continued to put Clarke and her character in a dangerous position. It was wise of Condal to have seen the error and not put Alicent in the same spot that humiliated the Mother of Dragons.
Emilia Clarke Felt Terrified Doing Her N*de Scenes
Clarke admitted that the explicit portrayal of her character in Game of Thrones terrified her and made her uncomfortable. In her interview with Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, she said she still approached the experience as a job. “If it’s in the script then it’s clearly needed.”
The role was her first ever major work in television after she came out of drama school. She recalled having “imposter syndrome times a million” during her time filming for Game of Thrones. Up until now, the actress refuses to revisit the show or even watch the prequel series.
Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are currently available to watch on HBO.
