Olivia Cooke Talks Miguel Sapochnik Exit From House of the Dragon Season 2

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Olivia Cooke Talks Miguel Sapochnik Exit From House of the Dragon Season 2

Shortly after the House of the Dragon premiere gave HBO its largest series launch, leading to a Season 2 renewal, co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik announced his exit from the series. Olivia Cooke, who stars as Alicent Hightower, addressed Sapochnik’s shocking exit on The Wrap’s UnWrapped podcast and explained how the show worked to combat his absence in Season 2.

“We all love Miguel, he’s a brilliant director and an incredible collaborator,” Cooke said. “He had just really radical ideas when it came to making this show. And I guess there’s been a collective effort to fill his shoes with other amazing directors. We’ve got some really cool directors that we’re working with this year and Geeta Patel and Clare Kilner are back, I mean his shoes won’t be replaced entirely because he is his own entity, but there’s still that proportion to make this season as good, if not, better.”

What to Expect in House of the Dragon Season 2?

House of the Dragon is one of the few productions that did not have to shut down at the start of the actors’ strike. Most of the actors in the show are British and working under Equity contracts, not SAG-AFTRA contracts. Therefore, the actors did not have to strike, so Season 2 continued shooting in the United Kingdom.

House of the Dragon will feature a large ensemble cast in Season 2, featuring Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Ewan Mitchell, Fabien Frankel, and Tom Glynn-Carney. New additions include Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin, and Abubakar Salim.

Set roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon depicts the rise and fall of House Targaryen and the events of the war for succession known as “The Dance of Dragons.” The series is based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood.

Martin and Ryan Condal co-created House of the Dragon, with the latter serving as a co-showrunner with Sapochnik. After Sapochnik’s exit, Condal became the sole showrunner on Season 2, which is expected to release in mid-2024.