House of the Dragon star Olivia Cook has addressed the “odd” age gaps between Alicent Hightower and her sons – and said she agrees with criticism towards it.

Cook, who is 32 years old, isn’t much older than the actors who play her sons – Tom Glynn-Carney as Aegon and Ewan Mitchell as Aemond – who are 31 and 29 on the Game of Thrones spin-off.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Joshua Horowitz, Cook was asked whether she knew about the age discrepancies going into the role, to which she responded: “No not at all. When I found out Ton Glynn-Carney was like auditioning for my son, I was like ‘What? Are they going to like recast Alicent again? Like how is this going to work’.”

She added: “I love them with all my heart. I think spiritually, me and Tom are related.”

Expanding further, she added: “It’s odd, isn’t it? I feel many things. I feel like, is this just the industry? Is this just Hollywood? They don’t want to see women age. You know I think it’s a big leap for the audience to make.”

She joked: “Or maybe I’m just a fantastic actor.”

Tom Glynn-Carney sits by firelight as King Aegon II Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 2.

Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen in House of the Dragon.HBO

Horowitz went on to ask Cook about initially auditioning to play the role of Rhaenyra Targaryen and how she feels when she sees Emma D’Arcy doing a scene.

Cook said: “I think my wanting Rhaenyra initially was I was desperate to be blonde. I was like ‘I want to wear that wig’. It was such a shallow thought.”

The hotly-anticipated third season of the show premiered last week on HBO and HBO Max, launching fans into a full-scale battle on both land and sea.

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Ahead of season 3’s premiere, Cooke teased that the power dynamic between Rhaenyra and Alicent is “more fractured this season”.

She explained: “It feels really strained there. The power dynamic has completely flipped, and we do see a lot more of them together, but it’s a new world for both of them. It’s an interesting alchemy.”

House of the Dragon season 3 will arrive on HBO Max on 22 June in the UK. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on HBO Max, Sky and NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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Authors

RadioTimes.com senior trends writer Molly Moss. She is sitting outside wearing a black top, holding a white teacup with a smily face on it to her mouth

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.