House of the Dragon: Emily Carey was ‘scared’ of sex scenes due to ‘violence’ in Game of Thrones

‘There’s a lot of violent sex [in ‘Game of Thrones’] and it made me nervous,’ British actor said

Emily Carey has admitted she was “scared” of filming House of the Dragon sex scenes because of how “violent” they seemed to be in the show’s predecessor, Game of Thrones.

The now 19-year-old British actor, who stars as the young Alicent Hightower in the HBO drama, was 17 when she first read the script and 18 when they started shooting.

“I’ve never seen Game of Thrones before, and so in the pre-production period I sat down to try and watch [it] and of course the first season, even just the first episode of Thrones, there’s a lot of violence upon women,” Carey told Newsweek in a recent interview.

“There’s a lot of violent sex and it made me nervous. I was like, ‘Oh God, what am I gonna have to do in this show?’”

The fan favourite fantasy is well-known for its brutal scenes. Carey’s co-star Milly Alcock also revealed in a separate interview that Game of Thrones’ “sexual violence” made her “uncomfortable”.

However, Carey went on to credit the “amazing” onset intimacy coordinator for making her feel assured.

“Again, still being 17, the first scene that I read from the show was my sex scene and my intimacy scenes, that includes the scene where I’m bathing the king”. The role is played by UK actor, Paddy Considine.

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey (L) in ‘House of the Dragon’ (HBO)

“But, it scared me, because at that point I still hadn’t met Paddy, I didn’t know how much of a joy he was and how easy he was going to make [the scene], and all I saw was, you know, a 47-year-old man and me, I was a bit concerned,” continued Carey.

She added: “And having that outlet of the intimacy coordinator, to be able to talk everything through and not be shunned, or not feel awkward, or not feel like ‘Oh, this isn’t your job. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable but can I ask you...’ it was never any of that, it was just that open dialogue.”

House of the Dragon airs weekly on Sundays in the US, with the UK premiere arriving 2am the following morning on Sky. The episode will then be repeated at 9pm on Mondays, and will then be available to stream on Sky and NOW.