Key Takeaways:
– Olivia Cooke returns as Queen Alicent Hightower in season two of House of the Dragon.
– She shares her complicated feelings towards playing an aging character in an interview with The Times.
– The actress discusses Hollywood's reluctance to depict accurate aging journeys for women.
– She suggests that this has forced her into an early retirement role.
House of the Dragon season two, the popular Game of Thrones spinoff, premiered on HBO Max on June 16 with Olivia Cooke reprising her role as Queen Alicent Hightower. The journey of Cooke's character has been remarkable, but the actress has mixed feelings about her evolving representation.
Cooke's Experience with Aging on Screen
In a candid discussion with The Times about her character, Cooke shared that she experiences some challenges playing an aging character. The 30-year-old actress pointed out that her character seemingly ages rapidly with each passing season. This phenomenon left her grappling with the industry's weak portrayal of women's aging journeys.
Cooke's frustrations lie with her character's progression. She feels that Alicent Hightower's aging is exaggerated, adding an unrealistic layer to a character that she's worked hard to nurture and develop. While she's appreciated the warm reception from fans, the accelerated aging of her character has been challenging to stomach.
Age Representation in Hollywood
Casting Cooke as a grandma while she's still in her thirties sparked a conversation on age representation in Hollywood. She questioned why the producers made her look significantly older when they could have employed age-adjusting technology. Alternatively, they could have cast older actors to maintain authenticity.
Cooke's sentiment underscores a prevalent issue – Hollywood's reticence to depict realistic aging journeys for women. She sees this as a subtle insinuation that female actors of a certain age are gradually moved into early retirement. As a result, younger actors like her are asked to play older roles, distorting their representation and feeding unrealistic standards.
The Aging Paradox
The absurdity was not lost on Cooke that her co-star Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays her son Aegon II, is only a year younger than her. She finds it unusual to call him ‘son,' shedding light on Hollywood's strange age dynamics.
Despite the challenges, Cooke remains grateful for her role in House of the Dragon and is committed to doing justice to her character. She addresses these issues not to discredit the show but to provoke a much-needed conversation about age, gender, and beauty standards in Hollywood.
In conclusion, Hollywood remains an industry that often sets unrealistic expectations about age. Actors such as Olivia Cooke are standing up to challenge these impositions and call for change. It's a conversation worth having to ensure diversity and genuine representation in the industry. To catch Cooke in action, tune into House of the Dragon on HBO Max.
With stars like Olivia Cooke, the conversation about age representation in Hollywood is heading in the right direction. Encouraging the industry to take an honest look at its practices will hopefully foster change. Let's look forward to seeing more accurate age representation on our screens. With the correct portrayal, we'll get to appreciate the beauty of life's journey in its entirety, not just its youthful beginning.
