Olivia Cooke explains Instagram exit
House of the Dragon actress Olivia Cooke has explained her reasons for quitting Instagram.
Olivia Cooke quit Instagram because she doesn't like the way it "distorts your mental image of your self".
The House of the Dragon actress is concerned at how introspective people are becoming as a result of the algorithms used by social media apps, so decided to get rid of her own account to ease the pressure she felt.
She told The Guardian newspaper: “I was sick of seeing 21-year-old looksmaxxers being like: ‘If you follow a program, this is what you can do,’ and it’s a side-by-side picture of him at 14, going through puberty, and him now, saying, ‘Look at the transformation.’
“It’s a lot. It’s very navel-gazy, and it distorts your mental image of your body and your self. And I think that has trickled into our industry, as well.”
But stepping away from the online world doesn't mean Olivia has escaped criticism because she is amazed at the "vitriolic" comments she receives when House of the Dragon fans stop her for pictures and slam her character, Alicent Hightower.
She said: “It can be quite vitriolic at times. I don’t want this to come across as ‘Woe is me’, because I’m very grateful for the job, but to field insults when you’re just walking down the street …
"They want a picture with you, then afterwards, they’ll say, ‘I f****** hate your character, by the way,’ or, ‘Your character’s a ****.’
“I sort of laugh and say, ‘Well, you can delete that picture.'
I don’t know what you can do. I just try and take it in my stride.”
When Olivia and co-star Emma D'Arcy were first promoting House of the Dragon, they went viral thanks to a clip of them discussing their favourite drinks, with the Ready Player One actress declaring her pal - who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen - to have made a "stunnin'" choice with the negroni sbagliato.
Olivia said: “I just think it was interesting that in our attention-deficit economy, that after a very wide-ranging career, that was the thing I was most notable for.
“But like everything, it lasted for about 15 minutes.”
Asked if she stopped saying "stunnin'" as a result of the scrutiny, she said: “Oh! Maybe. Just initially. Out of annoyance.
"I can get a bit of an attitude when it comes to these things, but it was all good-natured. It was just very bizarre.”
