Olivia Cooke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Olivia Cooke
Cooke in 2018
Born	Olivia Kate Cooke (1993-12-27) 27 December 1993 (age 31) Oldham, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present

Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress. She is famous for playing Queen Alicent Hightower in the popular fantasy series House of the Dragon. She also starred as Emma Decody in the thriller show Bates Motel and as the spy Sid Baker in Slow Horses.

Cooke has appeared in many movies. Her film roles include the horror movie Ouija, the comedy-drama Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and the science fiction adventure Ready Player One. She also starred in the drama Sound of Metal.

Early Life and First Steps in Acting

Olivia Kate Cooke was born in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England. Her mother, Lindsay Wilde, was a sales representative, and her father, John Cooke, was a police officer. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she grew up living with her mother and sister.

Cooke discovered her love for acting at age eight. She joined the Oldham Theatre Workshop, a local after-school drama club. She later studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College. She left college before finishing her final exams, called A-levels, to act in the TV series Blackout.

When she was 14, Cooke got her first agent and started appearing in commercials. In 2012, she was in a tour video for the band One Direction, where she got a piggyback ride from Harry Styles. She tried to get into the famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and made it to the final auditions but was not accepted.

Career

Starting on Television

After her time at the Oldham Theatre Workshop, a casting director helped Cooke get her first TV roles. In 2012, she appeared in two BBC shows: Blackout and The Secret of Crickley Hall. She found that she liked acting for TV more than on a stage.

Her first American role was in Bates Motel, a show that tells the story before the famous movie Psycho. She played Emma Decody, a smart and curious friend of the main character. To get the part, she sent in an audition video from England. The producers were so impressed they gave her the role.

Movie Roles and Rise to Fame

Cooke at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con

Cooke's first big movie was the horror film Ouija. She played the main character, Laine Morris, who uses a Ouija board to talk to a friend who has died. The movie was a huge box office success, earning over $100 million around the world.

In 2015, she starred in the movie Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. She played Rachel, a teenager with leukaemia. For this emotional role, Cooke shaved her head. The film was very popular at the Sundance Film Festival and won top awards.

In 2018, Cooke starred as Art3mis in Ready Player One, a science fiction movie directed by the famous Steven Spielberg. The film is set in a futuristic world where people escape into a virtual reality game. Later that year, she played the main character, Becky Sharp, in a TV version of the classic book Vanity Fair.

Recent Success

Olivia Cooke at an MTV interview for Ready Player One in 2018

Cooke co-starred in the highly praised 2019 drama film Sound of Metal. She played Lou, the girlfriend and bandmate of a drummer who loses his hearing.

Since 2022, Cooke has played one of her most famous roles, Queen Alicent Hightower, in the HBO series House of the Dragon. The show is a prequel to Game of Thrones and tells the story of a civil war in the fantasy world of Westeros. Her character is a key player in the kingdom's politics.

She also appeared as an MI5 agent named Sidonie "Sid" Baker in the spy series Slow Horses on Apple TV+.

Selected Filmography

Here are some of Olivia Cooke's most well-known movies and TV shows.

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations

Cooke has been recognized for her acting work with several awards and nominations.

See also

In Spanish: Olivia Cooke para niños