House of the Dragon’s intimacy co-ordinator says Emily Carey shows importance of work after Sean Bean comments

‘People don’t really know what it is that we do,’ Miriam Lucia reasoned of her work on the hit HBO series

House of the Dragon’s intimacy co-ordinator has said that Emily Carey’s comments about feeling supported during sex scenes counters Sean Bean’s controversial remarks on her role.

*Spoilers for House of the Dragon below*

Carey was just 17 when she was cast as Lady Alicent Hightower on the Game of Thrones prequel series and 18 when filming began. In one scene, Alicent is shown having sex with her husband Viserys Targaryen. The king is played by Paddy Considine, who is 30 years older than Carey.

“It scared me, because at that point I still hadn’t met Paddy… and all I saw was, you know, a 47-year-old man and me, I was a bit concerned,” Carey said in a recent interview, before adding that the “amazing” intimacy co-ordinator allowed her to feel comfortable on set.

In a new interview with Deadline, Miriam Lucia discussed Carey’s comments and how the actor “wouldn’t have known how to handle” the shoot without the presence of an intimacy co-ordinator.

“It was good to hear that following on from Sean Bean’s comments about how intimacy coordinators ruin spontaneity,” she said, referencing recent remarks in which the Game of Thrones star said he would feel “inhibited” by the presence of this third party while filming sex scenes.

“But I get why he said that, because he doesn’t have the same experience of it, and because this is a new function on sets,” Lucia reasoned. “People don’t really know what it is that we do. Some question why we’re there.

“It can still be weird for people who wonder if I’m checking up on whether they’re adhering to the rules of a closed set. But often my work has been done beforehand behind the scenes, talking to the director, the producer, the actors, even lawyers if necessary, in terms of waivers and things that need to happen.”

Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower in 'House of the Dragon’ (HBO)

She continued: “If there’s an issue or a change, or something becomes physically uncomfortable, or mentally uncomfortable, we shift it, but at that point, the work has largely been done, and hopefully it’s seamless. We need to be ready for the shoot date but also to know there won’t be any ugly surprises.”

This week’s episode of House of the Dragon is Carey’s last as Alicent, as the show will now feature a significant time jump and see her and Milly Alcock replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke.

You can read all the talking points from episode five of House of the Dragon here.

House of the Dragon continues in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Mondays at 2am, before repeating at 9pm later that day.