While House of the Dragon is set over a hundred years before its flagship show Game of Thrones, it still has many of the creative elements that made GOT a hit. From unexpected deaths to high-stakes politics, the spinoff proved to be a worthy successor to the global phenomenon, despite an underwhelming season 2 finale.
However, one aspect of filming the show reportedly daunted actress Emily Carey, who played a young Alicent Hightower. The actress mentioned that they were scared to film the s*x scene in the first season with actor Paddy Considine due to the age gap, as well as the graphic scenes in GOT.
Emily Carey Was Scared To Film One House of the Dragon Scene
The HBO drama series Game of Thrones was known for, among other things, its graphic n*dity and depiction of intimate scenes. From the first episode, the show established itself as a no-holds-barred type of series and it did not shy away from showing some truly violent s*x scenes (which received some criticisms).
These depictions reportedly scared actress Emily Carey, who played a young Alicent Hightower in the spinoff show House of the Dragon. They mentioned that they were scared to film the s*x scene with actor Paddy Considine, who played Alicent’s husband King Viserys Targaryen.
Carey mentioned that they were concerned about the age gap and were worried that they might have to do something violent as shown in Game of Thrones. They said to Daily Mail,
The first scene that I read from the show was my s*x scene and my intimacy scenes. All I saw was, you know, a 47-year-old man and me, I was a bit concerned…In the pre-production period I sat down to try and watch [Game of Thrones] and of course the first season, even just the first episode of Thrones, there’s a lot of violence upon women. There’s a lot of violent s*x and it made me nervous. I was like: ‘Oh God, what am I gonna have to do in this show?’
Emily Carey mentioned that they had not met actor Paddy Considine yet and that with an intimacy coordinator, they became more comfortable.
House of the Dragon Star Appreciates Intimacy Coordinator On Set For Easing The Process
The presence of intimacy coordinators on set during s*x scenes has become a mandate lately. While Game of Thrones star Sean Bean became the center of controversy when he said that their presence would deter an actor from a natural performance (via The Guardian), House of the Dragon star Emily Carey appreciated them.
Actress Milly Alcock, who played a young Rhaenyra Targaryen, also spoke about how her intimate scenes were spoken about with an intimacy coordinator and were blocked months before. Her s*x scene with on-screen uncle Matt Smith raised many eyebrows due to the age gap again. Alcock said (via The New York Post),
[Matt Smith and I] were just kind of mates. So, it was quite comfortable. We had an intimacy coordinator, and we worked with her through the rehearsal process and blocked it out months before.
Rhaenyra and Daemon get intimate in the same episode of House of the Dragon as Emily Carey’s character does in the show, with their s*x scenes intercut, showing the contrast in passions between the two.
House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max.
