Emily Carey Was 'Scared' for House of the Dragon Sex Scenes Because of the 'Violent Sex' in Game of Thrones

Emily Carey was "concerned" and "scared" about those House of the Dragon sex scenes. 

Carey, who uses she/they pronouns, was just 18 when filming scenes as young Alicent Hightower, a character who becomes the second wife of much older King Viserys (Paddy Considine). The intimate scenes in Episode 4, "King of the Narrow Sea", initally "scared" Carey, "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."

Watching Game of Thrones prior to filming didn't help ease Carey's fears, either. "Of course the first season, even just the first episode of Thrones, there’s a lot of violence upon women," they said. "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?'". Thanks to a top-notch cast and crew and showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, however, Carey felt "incredibly secure and safe" on set.

The actor also credited House of the Dragon's intimacy coordinator for being a "massive help" and making it "easier" than they thought it would be. "It was an amazing thing, and it was empowering being on that set as a young girl and being treated the same as all of these very established men," said Carey. "It was great, I think they approached this in the best way they could have done."

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Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.