Actor Olivia Cooke says House of the Dragon fandom drove her off social media
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The gist
Olivia Cooke said she quit social media over the House of the Dragon fandom's "ugliness."
She also took six months off work after contracting shingles.
Background
Olivia Cooke is the actor who plays Queen Alicent Hightower in HBO's House of the Dragon and also stars in Slow Horses. In a GQ Hype interview published Nov 9, she said she deactivated her social-media accounts around the show's third season because of what she called the fandom's "ugliness," and that she took six months off work after contracting shingles late last year in New York. The remarks drew attention because they came as the show's run was winding down: showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed in August that House of the Dragon would end with its upcoming fourth season.
How it unfolded
- Apr 2026Cooke deactivated all her social-media accounts, timed around House of the Dragon's third season.
- Jun 2026Season 3 of House of the Dragon premiered; Cooke's work hiatus, taken after shingles, lasted until June.
- Aug 2026Showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed the series would end with its upcoming fourth season.
- Oct 2026Cooke returned to Instagram in mid-October to promote Slow Horses season six, which launched Sept 16.
- Nov 9, 2026A GQ Hype interview was published in which Cooke discussed the fandom and her shingles hiatus, saying she took six months off after contracting shingles late last year in New York and returned to the UK for treatment.
- Nov 20, 2026A Talent for Murder, starring Cooke alongside Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich, is released in UK cinemas.
- Nov 23, 2026Cooke is set to perform in White Rabbit Red Rabbit at the Duchess Theatre in the West End.
Key terms
- shingles
- A viral disease causing a painful blistering rash on one side of the body or face.
- showrunner
- The top-level executive producer of a television series, who controls the show's creative direction and often serves as head writer.
- fandom
- A subculture of fans sharing a common interest, characterized by camaraderie and deep engagement with even minor details.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Cooke
- She said the fandom is "steeped in misogyny" and has "a lot of racism," and that she tries to let it take up minimal mental real estate.
- Cooke
- She said fan interpretations "catch fire" and bear no resemblance to what was shown on screen, and that the "celebri-fied nature of being an actor has now snowballed into this monster."
- Showrunner
- Ryan Condal said viewers pitting younger actors against their adult counterparts is "horrible for all these young performers that did a great thing."