Emily Carey has responded to accusations of “queerbaiting” surrounding two of the characters in House Of The Dragon. Spoilers ahead.
The Game Of Thrones spin-off depicts a complicated relationship between her character, Queen Alicent, and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock), particularly after the teenage Alicent marries Rhaenyra’s widowed father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine).
Speaking to Variety in a new interview, the actress said: “I mean, we kind of started that discourse,” Carey says. “We were in the rehearsal room… I believe it’s Episode 4. I was sat on the bench. It’s not necessarily something we had talked about yet. We were doing that scene, and Milly and I looked at each other like, ‘It kind of felt like we were about to kiss? That was really weird!’ And so we talked about it.”
Carey stated she feels any interpretation of the characters’ sexuality is down to viewers’ interpretation. “We didn’t intend to play it. We weren’t ‘making them gay’ or ‘queerbaiting,’ or anything like that. It’s just, if you want to read into it and see it like that, do it. If you want to see them as more than friends, do it. If you don’t, then don’t.”
She added: “Being a queer woman myself, it was something that I was conscious of. But I wasn’t consciously putting it out there.
“They’re 14-year-old girls, they don’t know the difference between platonic and romantic. They don’t even know what the words mean, let alone what the feelings mean.”
Last week (September 16), Alcock discussed her experience with fame following House Of The Dragon, describing it as a “part-time job” by itself.
“I’m trying to not look at it and trying not to engage with it because it doesn’t benefit me. It just makes me incredibly anxious. Me seeing my face constantly is straining. No one should have to do that,” she said.
“It fuckin’ sucks, man. I don’t know how the socialites of the world can do that. It’s kind of driving me off the wall. It’s an incredibly difficult space to navigate.”