House of the Dragon star reflects on shocking season opener kiss
The highly-anticipated opening episode of the new series of House of the Dragon saw Ewan Mitchell’s Aemond lock lips with his parent, played by Olivia Cooke, during a tense conversation.
House of the Dragon star Ewan Mitchell has admitted his character’s kiss with his mum Alicent in the season three premiere of the show made him “want to throw up”.
The highly-anticipated opening episode of the new series saw Ewan’s Aemond lock lips with his parent, played by Olivia Cooke, during a tense conversation.
Speaking to People, Ewan described the moment as one which “kind of makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit”, and added: “Yeah, it's kind of shocking.
“It's quite a difficult pill to swallow, isn't it? Kissing your mom on the lips, especially in that way. I think what you see in that scene in episode 1 is that skewed love.
“I mean, Aemond, growing up, he never felt like he was loved enough by his mom and his family around him, and a kid needs that unconditional love to develop a balanced view of themselves.
“And Aemond, because he never had that, he's got a very skewed perception and a very strange way of showing love."
Despite the controversy surrounding the scene, Ewan added he also saw it as a “tremendous challenge and an opportunity to show Aemond in a new light”.
While getting to film it with co-star Olivia was a “masterclass”, he explained.
He added: “Working with Liv Cooke in that scene is just — it's a masterclass working with Liv Cooke in any scene, yeah she's a real one."
Olivia also reflected on shooting the scene, and admitted it was “quite odd for both of us”.
She mused: “There has been this Oedipal undercurrent — unbeknownst to Alicent. And I think it's shocking”.
The actress also said the kiss is “really dangerous”, as Alicent knows her son is a “very dangerous person”.
Olivia explained: “She knows that one wrong facial expression, one perceived rejection, will cost her her life.
“So she's trying to tread very, very carefully. But I do think she's sort of stupefied in that moment."
The kiss also left fans speechless, with many of them taking to social media to express their shock.
One wrote: “I had to rewind three times because there’s no way my eyes just witnessed that. House of the Dragon keeps finding new ways to leave me absolutely speechless.”
As another added: “Ayo wtf?? I forget this stuff happens in game of thrones/house of the dragon.”
A third commented: “House of the Dragon continues to push the Targaryen family tree into absolute chaos.”
While someone else wrote: “A Son kissing his Mum. That was disgusting! Am I the only one who felt uncomfortable?”
