“It f—king gets reduced to a f—king TikTok”: House of the Dragon Star Olivia Cooke Hates How She Has Been Reduced to a Meme After Her Viral Video

With the premiere of House of the Dragon season 2 around the corner, the stars of the show, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke are making the rounds to talk about their show and their experience filming the continuance of the saga.

The characters portrayed by the two stars are on opposite sides of a fierce war that will certainly end in mass destruction and deaths. Fans can’t wait for the second season to premiere soon and quench their thirst for more drama, betrayals, and ambitiously sly moves to usurp the Iron Throne.

Olivia Cooke Talks About Becoming a Meme

We live in a day and age where making a name for oneself is a hundred times harder than becoming a meme. For the latter, all it takes is for you to do something stupid or insanely memorable and you go viral on the internet. Even for huge movie stars and celebrities, their years of hard work and dedicated efforts in the industry may go unnoticed, but if they do one spectacular action that stands out for the masses, they will be on everyone’s social media feed overnight.

While going on a press tour for House of the Dragon season 1, both Emma D’Arcy who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Olivia Cooke who plays Alicent Hightower, went from location to location promoting their show.

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On one such interview, D-Arcy told Cooke about her favorite drink, to which she replied, “Stunnin!” in a heavy Manchester accent. That moment has been etched in the pages of meme history as Cooke went viral after that. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cooke expressed,

“It’s just sad how you work for eight months and it f—ing gets reduced to a f—ing TikTok, and that makes me sad. We were just trying to make each other laugh. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. I did hate it for a very long time. I was in the pub. A woman opened the door for me and she said with a thick Spanish accent, ‘Stunnin’!’ I was just like, ‘Oh my God. Over a decade’s worth of work reduced to a single word in my lexicon.”

Rather than focusing on her incredible performance in the show, people kept resharing memes of her “Stunnin!” comment and even spanned animated videos on the same. From thirsty comments to becoming a hero in the LGTBQ community, the attention was widespread. Some people even commented on the chemistry between D’Arcy and Cooke while shipping the couple as a fan-favorite duo.

Witness a Fierce Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon Season 2

Season 1 of House of the Dragon ended with Rhaenyra learning of her son Luke’s death. Armed with a great battalion, strong dragons, and the support of her courageous husband Daemon, Rhaenyra is all set to take on Alicent and her sly measures to get back her birthright. Talking about a more fierce persona in season 2 who is ready to take on any challenge and reply bloodshed with more bloodshed, D’Arcy said,

“I certainly think that Rhaenyra is somewhat unleashed this season and is able to have more fluidity between those poles. In season 1, for reasons of her position, she was constantly moderating her desire. This season really investigates rage and maybe in particular a woman’s rage.”

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It’s often said not to mess with a powerful woman and her kids, and Alicent did both. Aemond kills Luke in the last episode of season 1 and ignites a war with far-reaching consequences. Rhaenyra’s thirst for both revenge and sustaining power with the Iron Throne will take center stage in House of the Dragon season 2, premiering on HBO Max on June 16.