‘House Of The Dragon’ Star Emily Carey Says A Major Focus Of ‘Game of Thrones’ Spin-Off Is “Misogyny And How It Affected The Women In This World”
According to series star Emily Carey, the topic of misogyny will be one at the forefront of HBO’s upcoming House of the Dragon, as the Game of Thrones prequel will apparently “showcase” and explore how the concept pervades the lives of women in Westeros.
Carey, who in the series portrays the younger version of Alicent Hightower, spoke to the series’ themes during a joint round table interview with co-star Milly Alcock given to members of the legacy media ahead of the spin-off’s premiere.
Asked by Screeenrant writer Tatianna Hullender how their characters “deal with [misogyny]” in the series, Carey began by explaining, “I think part of the key for Alicent is she doesn’t fight back.”
“I think she doesn’t know how to, and I think parts of her doesn’t want to—until she’s there,” said the actress of her character. “And then maybe she regrets certain decisions and certain choices. But I think she doesn’t have the power to fight back, mainly because she’s a child when we find her.”
Jumping off from there, Carey then asserted, “But I said it before and I’ll say it again: my favorite thing about this show is that, yes, we showcase misogyny and we show how it affected the women in this world, and how it relates to these characters – whether it’s Alicent or Rhaenyra or Rhaenys even.”
“But when we take away the storyline and theme of misogyny, these characters still have an arc and are still complex women onscreen,” she said. “They’re not just there to serve the purpose and to show misogyny; they are human beings put onscreen. And I think that’s a brilliant thing.”
Adding her own thoughts, Alcock opined “I think, ultimately, it’s down to the writing.”
“And what the show really leans on is how these two women are met with the same kind of patriarchy, but they react in entirely different ways,” the actress told the entertainment news outlet. “Because of their given circumstances, and because of who they are, and the privileges that they’ve been afforded within their lives.”
“I think that Rhaenyra especially is a fighter,” she continued, turning to address her character specifically. “She fights for what she wants, and she doesn’t like to take no for an answer. But I think that these two women deal with it entirely differently, and that’s what makes the show quite interesting. Because I think that a lot of people can see themselves in Rhaenyra just as much as Alicent.”
Alcock would further tease the series’ exploration of misogyny while speaking to IndieWire’s round table representative, Proma Khosla.
“House of the Dragon really creates a nuanced conversation of misogyny,” she touted to Khosla. “We don’t only explore it through a level of women being shut down and the patriarchy, but also go in-depth about the internalized misogyny that women are constantly faced with, and the competitiveness. Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship is at the forefront of that conversation.”
Carey and Alcock’s preview of the series’ lines up with the previous revelation from series co-showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal that midway through the development of House of the Dragon’s first season, the two realized that show they were unwittingly centering its story around the theme of how, as put by The Hollywood Reporter, “the patriarchy would rather destroy itself than see a woman on the throne.”
“It wasn’t something where we said, ‘We must make the show about this’,” stated Sapochnik, “but rather it’s something where we realized that’s what we had in front of us.”
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO on August 21st, 2022.
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