Following the criticism about humanizing her villainous character in the HBO hit series House of the Dragon’ 19-year-old star British actor, Emily Carey has deleted her Twitter account.
The controversy dates back to a month ago when Carey appeared at the Comic-con in San Diego besides some of her fellow stars cast from ‘House of the Dragon’ for the promotions of GOT prequel.
Carey is playing the younger version of Alicent Hightower, who is locked in a battle for succession with her childhood friend-turned-rival Rhaenyra Targaryen.
At Comic-Con, Carey made a seemingly innocuous comment about having the “freedom” to portray the young Alicent. Carey at the event went on to say, “There were some gaps that we had to fill, so to figure it all out I sort of started journaling, and … managed to come up with some form of backstory, and it proved to be very useful.”
Carey upon the portrayal of the character said multifaceted Alicent was the way she got a better understanding of the character.
“There are so many layers to her. I think lots of people are already expecting her to be the villain of the show, but I think bringing her in younger, there was a lot more to explore,” further she added.
But such comments apparently drew the attention and ire of Rhaenyra superfans who took Carey by storm and filled her posts on her Twitter handle with negative comments.
She was accused of not comprehending the source material. The hate and agitation by the fans were so grievous that it led the actor to delete her account.
“I love social media. I’m 19, so I’m all on social media, and I’ve been on social media since I was a kid because I’ve worked since I was a kid so I’m very conscious of things,” Carey said during a conversation with the American media.
Carey added: “I love the buzz, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it can be overwhelming, and that’s me being completely transparent.”
The now-deleted tweet that drew the fan backlash on the matter read, “I stand by what I said in the panel. Alicent is not the villain, folks. When we meet her she’s a child, a product of the patriarchy. Just wait and see. Maybe you’ll sympathize.”