Olivia Cooke is one of the most compelling British actresses working today. Born on December 27, 1993, in Oldham, Greater Manchester, she trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before landing her first major role in her early twenties. In a relatively short span of time, she has built a filmography that most actors spend decades trying to achieve.
What separates Cooke from her peers is range. She moves between prestige television, independent film, and major blockbusters without ever feeling out of place. Whether she is playing a dying teenager, a morally corrupt socialite, or a dragon-riding queen, she brings a rawness and intelligence to every role that is difficult to fake.
This guide covers every significant Olivia Cooke movie and TV show, ranked and reviewed so you know exactly where to start.
Olivia Cooke’s Breakout TV Roles
Bates Motel (2013–2017)
This is where most audiences first encountered Olivia Cooke. She played Emma Decody, a teenager with cystic fibrosis who becomes one of the few genuine friends of Norman Bates in the A&E psychological thriller series. The show was a contemporary prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, and Cooke held her own alongside Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore across five seasons.
Emma could have easily been a one-dimensional sympathetic figure. Instead, Cooke gave her quiet strength, sharp wit, and a full emotional life. Her arc across the series — from fragile outsider to a young woman fighting for her own survival — became one of the show’s most satisfying through-lines.
Vanity Fair (2018)
Cooke took on the iconic role of Becky Sharp in ITV and Amazon’s adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic novel. Becky is one of literature’s great antiheroes — cunning, ambitious, and utterly without shame — and Cooke played her with gleeful, sharp-edged energy.
This performance proved she could carry a period drama and handle complex, morally ambiguous characters without softening them for audience approval. The seven-episode miniseries is essential viewing for fans of literary adaptations.
Olivia Cooke’s Major Movie Roles
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
This Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner gave Cooke her first major film platform. She played Rachel, a teenager diagnosed with leukemia, opposite Thomas Mann. The film was praised for avoiding the typical emotional manipulation of illness narratives, and Cooke was central to that restraint. Her performance is quiet, funny, and genuinely moving without ever reaching for easy sentiment.
Ouija (2014) and Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Cooke appeared in the original Ouija horror film as the lead, Laine Morris. While the first film received mixed reviews, it demonstrated her ability to anchor a mainstream genre film. The sequel, directed by Mike Flanagan, was far better received by critics and has since developed a cult following.
Ready Player One (2018)
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi blockbuster, based on Ernest Cline’s bestselling novel, cast Cooke as Samantha Cook, also known as Art3mis — a skilled gamer and rebel fighter inside the virtual world of the OASIS. It was her biggest mainstream role at the time, and she brought genuine charisma to a film that could have easily swallowed its characters whole.
Working with Spielberg alongside Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn, and Mark Rylance positioned her firmly in the A-list conversation.
Thoroughbreds (2017)
This is arguably Cooke’s finest film performance. Directed by Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds is a dark, precise, and deeply unsettling thriller about two wealthy Connecticut teenagers — played by Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy — who plot to murder one of their stepfathers. The film was also the final performance of Anton Yelchin, who died before its release.
Cooke plays Amanda, a young woman who claims to feel no emotions whatsoever. The role required her to project blankness while simultaneously conveying menace, intelligence, and a strange, damaged humanity underneath. It is the kind of performance that defines a career.
Sound of Metal (2019)
Cooke appeared in a supporting role as Lou, the girlfriend of a heavy metal drummer losing his hearing, played by Riz Ahmed in his Oscar-nominated performance. Though her role was limited, she brought emotional weight to every scene she appeared in and held her own in a film full of exceptional performances.
Pixie (2020)
A lighter entry in her filmography — a crime comedy set in Ireland with Ben Hardy and Daryl McCormack. It showcased her comedic timing and willingness to take on material that sits outside the prestige drama category.
Olivia Cooke in House of the Dragon
This is the role that elevated Olivia Cooke to genuine global stardom. In HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, she plays Alicent Hightower — the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and the central antagonist of the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
The role is extraordinarily demanding. Alicent is not a simple villain. She is a woman who was manipulated into power as a child, forced into a political marriage, and shaped entirely by the desires of the men around her. By the time Cooke takes over the role from child actress Emily Carey in the season’s time jump, Alicent has hardened into something genuinely dangerous — protective, paranoid, and capable of real cruelty.
Cooke plays this complexity with remarkable control. In scenes opposite Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, and Emma D’Arcy, she rarely raises her voice and rarely needs to. The performance operates almost entirely through restraint — a glance, a stillness, a jaw tightening at the wrong moment.
Season 2 pushed the character further into moral crisis, and Cooke delivered some of the best dramatic television work of 2024. She received widespread critical praise and awards attention for the role.
Lesser-Known Roles Worth Watching
The Quiet Ones (2014) — A period horror film from Hammer Film Productions in which Cooke plays a young woman who may or may not be possessed. Atmospheric and underrated.
Katie Says Goodbye (2016) — A smaller independent film in which Cooke plays a young woman working as a waitress in a desert town with dreams of moving to San Francisco. The film is quiet and devastating, and Cooke is exceptional in every frame.
The Limehouse Golem (2016) — A Victorian-era mystery thriller in which she plays a music hall performer suspected of murder. Starring alongside Bill Nighy, this film gave her a chance to do physical performance work that her earlier roles didn’t require.
Funny Cow (2017) — Another period piece, set in working-class Northern England in the 1970s, where Cooke plays the younger version of the title character. A small role but a strong one.
What Makes Olivia Cooke Stand Out as an Actress?
There are plenty of talented young British actresses working today. What distinguishes Cooke is a specific quality that is very difficult to teach — she never seems to be performing. Even in heightened genre material, there is always the sense that something real and unscripted is happening behind her eyes.
She also has excellent instincts about projects. Her filmography is not built on franchise work alone. She consistently chooses independent films and challenging television alongside larger commercial projects. Thoroughbreds, Katie Says Goodbye, and Sound of Metal are not the choices of someone chasing fame — they are the choices of someone building a serious body of work.
Her physical stillness is another asset. In an era of expressive, gestural screen acting, Cooke understands how much power there is in doing very little. Alicent Hightower barely moves. Amanda in Thoroughbreds barely blinks. That stillness creates unease, and unease is one of the most difficult things to manufacture on screen.
Upcoming Projects and What’s Next
House of the Dragon Season 3 is in development at HBO, and Cooke’s role is expected to expand significantly as the Targaryen civil war reaches its climax. Beyond that, her choices will be worth watching closely. Given her trajectory — from Bates Motel to Ready Player One to House of the Dragon — the expectation is that a major awards-caliber film role is not far away.
She has already demonstrated the range. The next step is the kind of standalone film performance that shifts the conversation entirely, and based on everything she has done so far, it feels like a matter of when, not if.
Conclusion
Olivia Cooke’s career is one of the most consistently impressive in contemporary British acting. From her breakout in Bates Motel to her scene-stealing work in Thoroughbreds, her blockbuster presence in Ready Player One, and her career-defining performance in House of the Dragon, every stage of her journey has been marked by intelligence, commitment, and genuine craft.
If you are working through Olivia Cooke movies and TV shows for the first time, start with Thoroughbreds and House of the Dragon — those two projects alone will show you exactly what kind of actress she is and why she deserves every bit of attention she is receiving. Then go back to the beginning. Every stop along the way is worth your time.
FAQs
What is Olivia Cooke most famous for?
Olivia Cooke is most widely known for playing Alicent Hightower in HBO’s House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series. She first gained recognition playing Emma Decody in Bates Motel (2013–2017) and has since built a diverse filmography spanning horror, drama, and blockbuster science fiction.
What was Olivia Cooke’s first major role?
Her first major role was Emma Decody in the A&E series Bates Motel, which premiered in 2013. She appeared in all five seasons of the show, earning strong critical notices for her portrayal of a teenager with cystic fibrosis living in a town with a very dark secret.
Is Olivia Cooke in Ready Player One?
Yes. Olivia Cooke plays Samantha Cook, known in the virtual world as Art3mis, in Steven Spielberg’s 2018 science fiction film Ready Player One. The character is a skilled gamer and one of the primary heroes of the story alongside Tye Sheridan’s protagonist.
What are the best Olivia Cooke movies to watch first?
For first-time viewers, the best starting points are Thoroughbreds (2017) for her most critically acclaimed film performance, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) for an accessible and emotional drama, and Ready Player One (2018) for mainstream entertainment. For television, House of the Dragon is essential.
How many seasons of House of the Dragon has Olivia Cooke appeared in?
Olivia Cooke has appeared in both Season 1 (2022) and Season 2 (2024) of House of the Dragon. In Season 1, the role of young Alicent Hightower was played by Emily Carey before Cooke took over following a significant time jump in the narrative.
