‘House of the Dragon’ Star Emily Carey Deletes Twitter Following Backlash
One of the House of the Dragon stars is facing backlash about defending their character, causing them to delete their Twitter account. Emily Carey, who plays Alicent Hightower in the Game of Thrones prequel, explained how she created a backstory to humanize her character.
Alicent is meant to become a villain in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel, but back in July, the 19-year-old British actress said at San Diego Comic-Con, “There were some gaps that we had to fill, so to figure it all out I sort of started journaling, and managed to come up with some form of backstory, and it proved to be very useful,” Carey said.
She continued, “I think it gave me a deeper understanding of Alicent. I think she’s so multi-faceted, there are so many layers to her. I think lots of people are already expecting her to be the villain of the show already, but I think bringing her in younger, there was a lot more to explore. There’s such a huge character progression with Alicent and Rhaenyra [Targaryan]. I’ve never had the freedom to create a whole human being like this before. So it was so much fun being able to go so in-depth with her.”
Apparently, fans took issue with her trying to make a villain seem likable. As a result of the criticism from die-hard fans, Carey decided to quit Twitter. “I love social media. I’m 19, so I’m all on social media, and I’ve been on social media since I was a kid because I’ve worked since I was a kid so I’m very conscious of things,” Carey told News.com.au. “Any hate that comes in, it’s just… It’s a person behind a screen. You just have to move on from it. But I will say I did delete Twitter [after Comic-Con] because it’s just so loud. Even when it’s good, there’s so many and it’s so loud.”
“I love the buzz, don’t get me wrong,” she added, “but sometimes it can be overwhelming, and that’s me being completely transparent.”
In a since-deleted tweet, Carey reiterated her stance that her character was not a villain, she wrote, “I stand by what I said in the panel. Alicent is not the villain, folks. When we meet her she’s a child, a product of the patriarchy. Just you wait and see. Maybe you’ll sympathize.”
While she conceded she had to “switch off for a bit” for the sake of her mental health, Carey said there was more than enough support to drown out the hate. “Post Comic-Con there was a lot of noise, but what’s really lovely is a lot of fans noticed that I switched off Twitter and have come to me on other platforms that I use more often and have messaged me making sure I’m OK,” she added. “So I’m definitely feeling the positive vibes from it now, which is really nice. I’m very respectful of the fans in the sense of, we’re stepping into their world rather than they are watching our world. The fans are great. I think, for the most part, we’ve been welcomed in warmly to this fanbase.”
Carey plays the young version of Alicent, who is later portrayed by Olivia Cooke.
House of the Dragon premieres Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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