How House Of The Dragon's Emily Carey Added A Unique Spin To Alicent Hightower
By Matthew Martinez
On July 26, 2022, Looper attended a press event for "House of the Dragon" and got the chance to hear from the cast of the series. Emily Carey shed some light on her experience working on the program and what it was like to bring a younger Alicent Hightower to life. She explains that to truly get into the mind of her character and establish a strong understanding of her, she kept an in-character journal. Carey goes on to reveal that she actually came up with the detail that Alicent's mother died before the events of the show. "I was like, 'Hey, can I make something up? Because I need some kind of context," she said, recalling that she further fleshed out that idea, and it went a long way in enriching Alicent and Rhaenyra's dynamic.
Based on Emily Carey's comments, her addition to Alicent Hightower's characterization helped her with her role immensely. Although, since it's not rooted in any existing "Game of Thrones" media, one has to wonder how HBO audiences will respond. After all, die-hard fans and George R.R. Martin alike have never shied away from calling out the "Game of Thrones" show when it deviated from the source material. As the author told Time in 2018, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss occasionally went in different directions than he would've liked. "I would always favor sticking with the books, while they would favor making changes," Martin stated, adding that the show's omission of Lady Stoneheart was particularly disappointing.
At the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with straying away from source media if it's for the betterment of the story. Surely Emily Carey's alterations to Alicent Hightower's life will only benefit the character and "House of the Dragon" as a whole.
The ten-episode HBO Original drama HOUSE OF THE DRAGON debuts SUNDAY, AUGUST 21 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO
