House of the Dragon's Emily Carey received "borderline homophobic hate" when playing Alicent

The first season of House of the Dragon was an absolute hit, reintroducing fans to Westeros and the incredible world George R.R. Martin had created with his Game of Thrones books. Despite many swearing off the franchise after feeling disappointed with the Thrones finale, the prequel series broke viewership records for HBO and Max, with audiences impressed with the storylines, performances, and, of course, the dragons. The casting department did a great job picking strong actors for all the roles, especially when it came to younger and older versions of the same characters.

The first five episodes of House of the Dragon season 1 starred Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower. The two actresses captured viewers' hearts, making it hard to say goodbye when they were replaced by adult actors Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke. D'Arcy and Cooke are fantastic, but I still can't help but miss Alcock and Carey: they really made an impression.

Emily Carey was bullied by House of the Dragon fans

Ahead of the House of the Dragon season 2 premiere this month, Carey is opening up about her experience on the HBO show, and unfortunately, it wasn't all great.

Carey, who will not be reprising her role as Alicent in the sophomore season, recently spoke with The Independent, recalling when people accused her of pushing her own sexuality onto her character, which is pretty outrageous:

"As a queer person, I received a huge amount of borderline homophobic hate on the internet. I had a lot of comments that I’d forced my lesbianism on these characters, which is just absurd, in my opinion. All we said was that if you wanted to see this potential spark between them, you could."

- Emily Carey

Carey is referring to comments she made when the first season of House of the Dragon came out where she discussed Alicent's complicated relationship with Rhaenyra. Remember, the two girls were once best friends but grew apart when Alicent was forced to marry Rhaenyra's father, King Viserys, by her own father Otto Hightower. Understandably, the dynamic between the two characters changed quickly, but I don't think it was due to either of their choices. Even where the two are now — at war against each other — there's arguably still a love there between them. Circumstances have just gotten in the way.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly from August 2022, Carey talked about the love between Alicent and Rhaenyra, explaining that she and Alcock discussed the romantic undertones. "It does toe the line between platonic and romantic," Carey shared. "But I also think, at 14, you don't know what those words mean. You don't know what the feelings mean. It's just love. That's all it is. Whether it's friendship or more than that, I think it's up to how you want to see it, but it was talked about for sure."

Considering Carey was not credited as a writer on House of the Dragon, I don't see how she could've forced anything onto her character. Her assessment of Alicent and Rhaenyra's relationship was completely fair — and seemed to be exactly what the writers were going for. There's a lot of love between the two characters, perhaps more than in a strictly platonic relationship, and a whole lot of jealousy. That's what makes their dynamic so complicated and interesting.

From the start, Alicent is envious of Rhaenyra's status and it's sometimes difficult to tell whether she wants to be Rhaenyra or wants to be with her. It's probably a mix of both.

I never understand how someone can call themselves a fan of a show or movie if they bully the actors or crew members involved, but I guess that's a conversation for another post! As mentioned, Carey will not return to House of the Dragon for season 2, and neither will Alcock. Now that the Dance of the Dragons is about to begin, we're done with the big time jumps.

If you're missing Carey and Alcock like I am, there's plenty of opportunity to watch them in other titles. Carey stars in the new Netflix show Geek Girl, which was released on May 30, and up next she'll lead a thriller called Walk With Me. As for Alcock, she's joined another major franchise with her casting as the next Supergirl. She'll star in her own movie, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and will likely appear in other DC Cinematic Universe projects as well.

For those counting down the days until House of the Dragon season 2, I'm right there with you! The first episode, "A Son for a Son," will air on HBO and stream on Max on June 16 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

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