House of the Dragon returned with a bang on Sunday, June 21, featuring a scene that will undoubtedly have everyone talking.
During a tense exchange with his mom, Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke), during the season 3 premiere, Ewan Mitchell‘s prince regent, Aemond Targaryen, shocked viewers — and his mother — by planting a kiss on her lips.
According to Mitchell, 29, it “kind of makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of shocking. But then also, I just recognized a tremendous challenge and an opportunity to show Aemond in a new light,” the British actor told People in an interview published on Sunday.
“It’s quite a difficult pill to swallow, isn’t it? Kissing your mom on the lips, especially in that way,” he explained. “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.”
“I think what you see in that scene in episode 1 is that skewed love,” he added.
Cooke, meanwhile, said the scene was difficult to film.
“I think it was quite odd for both of us,” said the actress. “There has been this Oedipal undercurrent — unbeknownst to Alicent. And I think it’s shocking.”
There’s also the small matter of Aemond being something of a psychopath. After all, he did burn his brother Aegon (played by Tom Glynn-Carney) half to death in season 2.
Cooke, 32, said that for Alicent, the kiss is “really dangerous, because he’s a very dangerous person.”
“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,” she shared.
Despite having to kiss his onscreen mom, Mitchell praised his scene partner.
“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,” he gushed.
Of course, fans of House of the Dragon and its predecessor, Game of Thrones, are no strangers to shocking incest scenes. Aemond’s brother Aegon is, after all, married to his sister, Helaena (Phia Saban). Season 1 also featured the taboo romance between Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy) and her paternal uncle, Daemon (Matt Smith).
House of the Dragon season 3 airs Sundays on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.
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