House of the Dragon Star Emily Carey Opens Up About Handing Off Alicent Role After the Time Jump

After the fifth episode of came to an end on Sunday, the sneak peek at episode six confirmed the arrival of the time jump that has been talked about since the show began. House of the Dragon will leap a decade into the future for next week’s episode, and that means a couple of characters will be played by different actors going forward. This includes two of the main characters: Rhaenrya Targaryen and Alicent Hightower.

The first five episodes star Emily Carey as Lady Alicent, the young woman who becomes queen after King Viserys’ first wife dies in childbirth. Beginning in next week’s episode, the character will be played by Olivia Cooke. Carey recently broke down her final outing as Alicent with Variety, and revealed that she and Cooke didn’t meet for quite a long time, despite playing the same character.

“We didn’t even meet for a very long time,” Carey said of Cooke. “So much happens within that 10-year gap…we’re going from practically children into fully-fledged women. There’s a whole load of growing up to do in that mix, so it’s kind of like we’re playing completely different people.”

Carey went on to say that it was difficult to take ownership of her role without being able to read all of the scripts, but that they’re excited to watch Cooke does with Alicent going forward.

“It’s very strange, having this much this much freedom and this much ownership of a role, and then not even being able to read the rest of the scripts, because it was so top secret,” Carey explained. “I am incredibly excited to see Olivia and Emma [D’Arcy, who plays the adult Rhaenyra] do their thing. They are both the loveliest people ever, and I’ve admired Olivia as work for years and years. So to be able to hand off a role to her of all people fills me with so much joy and pride.”

“I just can’t wait to see the episodes and actually watch the show with the viewer, and not be cringing at myself,” she added. “I can actually take it in from an audience’s perspective, which is quite nice.”

Are you looking forward to seeing what House of the Dragon looks like after the time jump next week? Let us know in the comments!