All the actors in House of The Dragon, and who they’re playing

Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower

One of the main players in the Dance will be portrayed by rising star Olivia Cooke. Cooke has appeared in movies like Ready Player One and the Oscar-winning Sound of Metal, but House of the Dragon will give her the chance to truly shine. Her brilliant performance as Emma Decody in Bates Motel is surely one of the big reasons HBO decided to hire the young actor in this important role.

Alicent is the second wife of King Viserys I Targaryen, and gives him three healthy Targaryen sons. Think of Alicent as an even more mature and successful version of Margery Tyrell. She greatly advances her family’s interests by marrying King Viserys, and then her ambition extends to getting one of her sons on the Iron Throne, over the objections of the king’s only surviving child from his first marriage, her step-daughter Rhaenyra.

The feud between the two women eventually leads to a civil war. At a great tournament in King’s Landing, the two establish their rivalry by wearing black and green gowns respectively, dividing the court into two factions, the “Blacks” who support Rhaenyra and the “Greens” who support Alicent and her son Aegon, whom she wants on the throne.

Leading up to the Dance, Alicent’s hatred for Rhaenyra and the king’s brother Daemon grows more fervent by the day. She and Rhaenyra each have three sons that they constantly pit against one another, and there’s already a lot of bad blood when the king dies and the Dance begins in earnest. Alicent leads the charge to crown her son Aegon, which happens even before Rhaenyra — who’s away on Dragonstone — even learns that her father is dead.

These political maneuvers will be a joy to see brought to life by Olivia Cooke, who is sure to capture Alicent’s intelligence and ferocity.

And now for a special surprise…

Emily Carey as Young Alicent Hightower

HBO has revealed that it’s casting actors to play younger versions of at least two important characters, including Alicent Hightower. Her younger self will be played by Emily Carey, who’s kind of made a career out of this sort of thing: she played young Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman and young Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, in addition to several other credits.

Will we flash back to Alicent’s younger days? Will there be multiple timelines? That has yet to be determined. We also don’t know how far back we’ll go. Might we even see Alicent’s very early days at court when she attended the old King Jaehaerys I Targaryen on his deathbed?

There’s a lot of unanswered questions here. As for the identity of the other character getting the flashback treatment, read on…