Olivia Cooke is currently in the spotlight courtesy of House of the Dragon season 3. The English actress masterfully portrays the role of Alicent Hightower — the Queen in Green who finds herself in the middle of a battle for the Iron Throne, despite wanting to find a more peaceful solution to the political conflict surrounding her.
We've seen Alicent indirectly start a war by misinterpreting the last words of King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and try to make amends for it by striking a deal with Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy). But in another world, we could've seen the actress behind the character star in another big franchise.
Olivia Cooke auditioned for the role of Rey Skywalker in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
During the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, Olivia Cooke revealed that she auditioned for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Reports initially indicated that Cooke was in contention to bring Rose Tico to life, a character eventually played by Kelly Marie Tran. However, she denied those rumors and revealed that she had auditioned to play Rey Skywalker instead, although the part ended up going to Daisy Ridley.
"I think that was a weird rumor. I don't think I actually auditioned for [Rose Tico]." Olivia stated, "I did audition a few times for the other one that Daisy Ridley got. But like, you know, everyone and their dog auditioned for that (...) I think I auditioned once in LA and then once with J.J. [Abrams], and I was s**t. I was really bad. I was just bad. You know when you're going into an audition, and you're just not bringing it? And you've let yourself down. You've let everyone down in the room. Daisy did such an amazing job. I just wasn't that kind of actor at that time."
Talking about roles that never came to be, Cooke also stated that the most devastating role that she auditioned for but never got was for Endless Love. "I screen-tested for that, and I wanted it so badly, and I was 19. It was my first-ever screen test, and I was just like, 'I've got to get this.' And then my agent rang me up in the middle of the night in the UK (...) and I wept."
Cooke also revealed she auditioned for some CW roles that never came to be, and denied that she was going to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Hawkeye Disney+ series. Back in 2020, there were rumors circulating that indicated Cooke and Taissa Farmiga were in contention to play the role of Kate Bishop, the new archer in town following in Clint Barton's footsteps. However, Cooke revealed that Marvel "gauged her interest," but she never auditioned or met with anyone to discuss the role.
Had Olivia Cooke been part of another big franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, perhaps we wouldn't have seen her as Alicent in House of the Dragon. After all, those roles are usually designed to be played for the long run, and contractual obligations could get in the way of other projects. However, things turned out for the best, as no one else could play Alicent with so many layers as Cooke does, and Hailee Steinfeld did a phenomenal job of portraying Kate Bishop. Still, it's always fun to wonder what could've been.
New episodes of House of the Dragon season 3 air every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
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