Olivia Cooke says trolling from House of the Dragon fans left her depressed

16 December 2022, 17:22

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By Sam Prance

"It’s awful. It’s hideous. People are so mean."

Olivia Cooke has opened up about experiencing online trolling and how it affected her when House of the Dragon came out.

Ever since House of the Dragon premiered earlier this year, fans and critics alike have praised Olivia Cooke's performance as Alicent Hightower. At the start of the series, Alicent is Rhaenyra's best friend and closest confidant in all of Westeros. However, as the show progresses, their paths grow further and further apart and Alicent becomes the series' main antagonist.

Now, Olivia has explained that playing a villain has led to her receiving an onslaught of hate comments from HOTD viewers.

READ MORE: House of the Dragon season 2: Release date, plot, book spoilers, cast and trailers

Speaking with other actors in The Wrap’s Power Women Summit, Olivia explained that she "went and looked" for comments about her performance after House of the Dragon debuted. She then said: "Obviously. I had a scroll on Twitter. It’s awful. It’s hideous. People are so mean. That’s the thing, no one has anything nice to say."

Olivia continued: "No one, who goes and has the gumption to commit thoughts to a tweet, has anything nice to say. So I was a bit depressed, and didn’t want to leave the house for a little bit.” But you have to, it's weird. You have to pick the scab. You have to see what people are saying."

She added: "I haven't been on it for a very long time since just 'cause people are wild."

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Olivia then explained that people see her as Alicent instead and forget that she's not her character. She said: "I'm an evil hag in so many people's eyes. I had no idea that that's what people would come away thinking."

If you, or someone you know, is struggling with their mental health, the following organisations may be able to help.

• Samaritans – www.samaritans.org
• Mind - www.mind.org.uk
• SAMHSA (USA) - www.samhsa.gov
• Mental Health America - mhanational.org

Read more House of the Dragon news here:

• House of the Dragon writer is "baffled" fans are thirsting over Matt Smith's Daemon
• House of the Dragon could bring back young Rhaenyra and Alicent for season 2
• House of the Dragon cast confirm they played Rhaenyra and Alicent as queer
• House of the Dragon's Steve Toussaint slams racist viewers of the show

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