House Of The Dragon's Olivia Cooke Had A Hard Time Hitting Tom Glynn-Carney In Episode 8
Viewers of the critically acclaimed "Game of Thrones" spinoff (via Rotten Tomatoes) are well aware that "House of the Dragon" has plenty of disturbing moments throughout its top-rated first run (via CNN). There are times when, despite seeming to make it look easy on screen, some of the cast had difficulties when bringing some of the shocking moments to life.
Followers of the "Game of Thrones" franchise are well aware that there is no shortage of surprising moments, from devastating deaths to some truly inhuman acts of cruelty that occur in almost every installment. The series never hesitates to go the extra mile to keep its audience captivated and shock them every chance they get. And the Golden Globe-nominated spinoff House of Dragon is keeping pace with that tradition. While certain characters probably have it worse than others, almost everyone gets their fair share of despair in the show, including Cooke's character Alicent Hightower.
Out of all the highly rated titles Cooke has been a part of during her tenure in the realm of acting, House of the Dragon arguably reigns as one of her absolute best (via Rotten Tomatoes). According to the actress, some endeavors during production proved to be much more challenging than others, particularly a hard-hitting interaction with her co-star Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays Aegon II Targaryen.
Sometimes slaps are harder to give than to take
Episode 8, "The Lord of Tides," is ranked as one of the best "House of the Dragon" entries in the first season. Alicent Hightower is forced once again to deal with the fallout of Aegon II Targaryen's actions. After she confronts him for performing a heinous act on a servant girl, her character gets very hands-on when it comes to matters of discipline, and for Olivia Cooke, aiming for the face turned out to be a bit off-putting.
The actress told The Hollywood Reporter, "Tom, being Tom, was like, 'No, just hit me.' The first go-around, I clipped him on his chin." She elaborated, "And he was like, 'No, just really wall at me,' and I just really f**king went for it to the point where it echoed all the way through the hall, and my hand suddenly had a heartbeat." The actress revealed the ordeal resulted in her awkwardly giggling off camera with her adding, "We only did it once or maybe twice. But it was like, 'Oh my God, don't mess with you.'"
It would appear that Glynn-Carney is very dedicated to the role and is willing to do whatever it takes to do his despicable character justice for the audience. The slap-happy actor has already expressed his excitement about the second season of the series, telling Entertainment Weekly, while he was only briefly featured in the first iteration, "Season 2 will be a lot more meaty, so I'm looking forward to the challenge." Both Alicent Hightower and Aegon II Targaryen will be prominent players in the war that was teased in the finale. When the show returns, it will be interesting to see what challenges arise in "House of the Dragon" Season 2.