Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon show the present and past of Westeros and the plethora of characters that live in the realm. Olivia Cooke is finding fame by her side again as House of the Dragon gears up for its second season, but that isn’t all.
A lot of fans, however, cannot figure out the difference between reality and fiction. Stars from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon series know this inside-out and that is what Olivia Cooke was afraid of before she joined the franchise!
Olivia Cooke Was Afraid of Fame
Ahead of the season 2 release, Olivia Cooke (who says it’s going to be heinous) sat down in an interview to talk about how her life has changed in the fact that it hasn’t changed at all. From starring in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One to the 2019 film Sound of Metal, Cooke has been a part of famous projects before.
So starring in the first season of House of the Dragon was nothing that life-changing for Cooke. Despite starring in other projects, Cooke revealed that she was a bit hesitant to sign the contract because of one particular reason.
Finding fame and people following you was not on Olivia Cooke’s bucket list but that is exactly what would happen if she were to take on the role of Alicent Hightower. In an interview with Elle, the actress revealed that she was aware of what happened to people who starred in such big shows.
I was aware of what happened to people who were on Game of Thrones and how they [became] so recognizable everywhere, don’t know the ins and outs of how their lives had changed, but they were so visible.
She further continued,
[I was] just really nervous that I would feel watched or followed….I was worried about having lots of eyes on me, but it’s actually been okay. It sort of ramps up when the show comes out, and things just die back down again.
It seems that Cooke has learned how to deal with these types of situations but for some Thrones actors, it wasn’t so easy. Daniel Portman, who portrayed the notorious role of Podrick Payne in Game of Thrones knows this better than anyone else.
From getting se*ually molested several times in public to having a Casanova image created of him, Portman has been through a lot. He didn’t reveal the bad side of fame until some years back but he didn’t make a big deal out of it.
What Did Podrick Payne Do To Those Women?
We all know that Tyrion, as a sign of appreciation gave Podrick Payne some money to spend at Lord Baelish’s establishment. Throughout the entirety of the series, it has never been revealed what Payne did to those women that he got the service for free.
Well, turns out that some fans cannot distinguish fantasy from reality as Daniel Portman, who portrayed the role of Podrick Payne in the series, revealed some horrific details. In an interview with Esquire, Portman revealed that he has been groped in public!
I’ve been grabbed by so many… like the amount of like older, older women who are very… What can you do? You know? Obviously tell them not to do it. It hasn’t happened for a while. In this day and age you’d think that people would be able to separate reality from fiction.
He further continued,
I don’t want to say it comes with the territory, but, you know, people are crazy about it. It’s certainly not cool. It’s really not a bad thing, to be tied to your character.
Well, hopefully, this behavior will not be repeated but what can we say, fans can sometimes indeed become crazy. As the world tackles between House Green and House Black, the second season of House of the Dragon is gearing up for release.
The 2022 show received a rating of 8.4/10 on IMDB and a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes upon its release. The second season of House of the Dragon is slated for a release date of 16 June 2024. House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
