Why House Of The Dragon Cut An ‘Animalistic’ Sex Scene With Olivia Cooke
“Game of Thrones” garnered a reputation for featuring a ton of sexual content. Even with the announcement that its spinoff “House of the Dragon” would have a different style of sex scenes from its predecessor, audiences knew they’d be in for a wild time. Olivia Cooke spoke with Elle about how she knew what she was getting into with “House of the Dragon.”
Season 2 started with a bang, as Episode 1, “A Son for a Son,” featured several of such scenes with Alicent Hightower (Cooke). According to Cooke, the season was meant to have one romp that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor. She described the scene as “animalistic,” and continued saying, “It was messy as f***. It wasn’t beautiful, and that was really fun to do.” While Cooke was game for the sequence, it got vetoed down the line. “I think Ryan [Condal, the showrunner] said we weren’t learning any more about the characters, which I disagree with slightly,” she explained. “But it’s okay. It’s his show.”
“House of the Dragon” has Vanessa Coffey as an intimacy coordinator, a profession that’s changing Hollywood forever. Whether the scene is animalistic or more traditionally romantic, all parties involved deserve to feel safe. So far, Cooke has been pleased with her experience filming these moments, saying, “I thought there’d be way more, and so I’m relieved that when it has been used for me, it’s showing Alicent being pleasured, which is amazing and doesn’t feel gratuitous.”
House of the Dragon’s intimacy coordinator gave Olivia Cooke pointers
Filming sex scenes will naturally bring a certain level of awkwardness. Matt Smith addressed the weirdness of “House of the Dragon” Season 1’s brothel scenes, and one would imagine everyone feels similarly to an extent. It speaks to the importance of having intimacy coordinators on-hand to help facilitate these sequences, which Olivia Cooke addressed once more in an interview with Cosmopolitan UK.
Cooke gave Vanessa Coffey a shoutout yet again and how she was a tremendous asset. “She was the one that would go up to the directors and say what we were and were not comfortable with, which just like takes the awkwardness out of it for the actors,” she explained. “You’re then not having sort of like petition for your own boundaries and your own safety.” Coffey also had a hand to play in ensuring the sex scenes looked as natural as possible. While directors and other members of the crew have a litany of responsibilities, it’s vital for someone to make sure these scenes are handled ethically among the chaos of filming.
Emilia Clarke has spoken out about her “Game of Thrones” nude scenes and how uncomfortable they made her. That show didn’t have an intimacy coordinator, so such moments likely didn’t have the same level of care as can be seen now on “House of the Dragon.” When everyone feels comfortable, it leads to a better experience for both actors and viewers.