House of the Dragon’s King Viserys and Alicent bonded over Drag Race: ‘Targaryen realness’
House of the Dragon’s Emily Carey and Paddy Considine are big Drag Race fans. (HBO/WOW)
House of the Dragon stars Emily Carey and Paddy Considine reportedly bonded over a mutual love of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Carey, who played the young Alicent Hightower, explained that she and Considine (King Viserys Targaryen) would begin their days on set discussing the latest Drag Race episode.
“Paddy is a massive Drag Race fan, and so am I,” Carey said, appearing on Entertainment Weekly‘s West of Westeros podcast.
“So I’d come into set and be like, ‘Hey, Paddy, did you watch the new episode of All Stars?’ He’d be like, ‘Oh my God, yes! Let’s talk about it.’ And so that’s how we’d start every morning.”
Following the podcast release, a fan account shared a behind-the-scenes clip of Considine dancing on set, saying he was serving “Targaryen realness”.
Carey, 19, said she loves Drag Race so much, she has asked to be a guest judge.
“I’ve asked. We’re talking about it. Don’t you worry, I’m going to get there. I’m going to make it happen,” they said.
“Honestly, I think I’d just cry the whole time. I think I would just sob the entire time. I grew up on that show.
“I love Drag Race, and I love drag as a performance art. I think it’s beautiful.”
Finding out Paddy Considine and Emily Carey bonded on set together over their shared love for RuPaul’s Drag Race definitely explains Paddy’s behaviour 😂😂 #HouseOfTheDragon pic.twitter.com/sRDK7D7odl
— westerosies (@westerosies) October 12, 2022
Carey played Alicent in the first few episodes of House of the Dragon, with Olivia Cooke playing the grown-up queen after a mid-season time jump.
During early episodes, fans noted queer undertones in the relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock, later replaced by Emma D’Arcy).
Carey told Entertainment Weekly: “Whether it’s friendship or more than that, I think it’s up to how you want to see it, but it was talked about for sure.
“As a viewer, I like to read into it because I also think that it makes the demise of the friendship more heartbreaking to watch… I would love if they were a little bit fruity, but it’s up to you how you want to read it.
“It’s just a beautiful bond between two young girls, let’s put it that way.”
Carey added in an interview with Variety that the two actors were not “queerbaiting” with their performance, simply that they were playing the characters authentically as 14-year-olds.
“We didn’t intend to play it. We weren’t ‘making them gay’ or ‘queerbaiting’, or anything like that,” she said.
“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.”
They added: “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.”
House of the Dragon airs weekly on Mondays on Now TV and Sky Atlantic.
