Olivia Cooke on Alicent Backlash, Class, and Arts
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- Olivia Cooke plays Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon, a role based on George RR Martin's Fire & Blood, and says the character has become a focal point for queer women and non-binary viewers who relate to her 'unravelling' under patriarchy, though Cooke insists she is 'definitely not' living the queer experience
- Cooke says she faces vitriolic comments in person, with fans asking for photos and then saying 'I fucking hate your character,' and deleted her Instagram six months ago after her algorithm served up '21-year-old looksmaxxers' promoting body transformation programs
- The Girlfriend, a pulpy thriller starring Cooke opposite Robin Wright (who also directed), became a surprise streaming hit by dramatizing class warfare between a working-class estate agent and her wealthy mother-in-law, with Cooke noting 'a shocking number' of viewers sided with the snobbish Laura
- Cooke grew up in Oldham and joined the Oldham Theatre Workshop at age 8 — the same youth group that nurtured Anna Friel, Suranne Jones, and Joseph Gilgun — after her mother pulled her out of ballet for answering back
- Cooke argues that arts funding cuts are producing homogenized storytelling because talent from working-class areas cannot access the 'upper echelons' of the industry, and expresses disappointment that a Labour government has not prioritized the issue
- Cooke went viral alongside co-star Emma D'Arcy during House of the Dragon promotion when a clip of them discussing negroni sbagliato cocktails spread online, a moment Cooke calls 'interesting' given her wider career went less noticed in an 'attention-deficit economy'
Why it matters: Cooke is using her platform on a top HBO series to make a concrete policy argument: that defunding youth drama workshops in working-class areas doesn't just hurt aspiring actors but produces culturally homogeneous television. She names a specific constituency (working-class northern talent) and a specific mechanism (the Oldham Theatre Workshop model that launched Anna Friel and Suranne Jones) that she says is at risk under continued arts funding cuts.
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