‘The Girlfriend’ Star Olivia Cooke On Her Career, Fame And Normal Life

Olivia Cooke in “The Girlfriend” series

Prime Video

At the quintessential age of 31, actress Olivia Cooke has already encountered more than most creatives experience in their entire career. From acting alongside Steven Spielberg’s direction in the 2018 sci-fi film, Ready Player One, to continuing on as a leading character in the House of the Dragon series, Cooke has already shown and proven her unique range, time and time again, bringing a refreshing depth and an enigmatic nature to her outstanding performances, within a wide array of genres.

In her latest project titled The Girlfriend, Cooke plays the title character, Cherry Laine, a young professional who struggles to gain the trust of her new boyfriend’s somewhat overbearing mother, Laura Sanderson, a wealthy art gallery owner, played by Robin Wright. Throughout the Amazon MGM Studios series, streaming September 10 on Prime Video, Cherry and Laura consistently duke it out, as each of them strive to capture the attention and favorability of their Daniel (played by Laurie Davidson). The end result showcases two tour de force performances from Wright and Cooke, as their on-screen chemistry (and intentional lack-thereof) will hold viewers’ attention throughout all six of these deliciously unsettling episodes.

I sat down with Cooke over Zoom to discuss her new The Girlfriend series, first wondering what it was about the character of Cherry on the page that not only made her want to join this project, but made her feel like she could effectively take this on for the screen.

Cooke said, “Well, first of all, it was Robin Wright. I wanted to work with her. I think she’s brilliant and all her choices are incredible. There’s so much that I just wanted to learn and sort of absorb from her – but then also Cherry, I think she was quite different to characters that I’ve played before. She felt instantly recognizable to some of the people that I’ve grown up with, and I just loved how her emotions and anger sat so closely to the surface. She felt effervescent and there was this very powerful engine inside of her that has kept her going and made her ambition sort of limitless – and I thought she was like unashamedly, which I loved.”

Piggybacking off of her fond comments about Wright, knowing that Cooke has worked with powerhouse female actresses before, including alongside Vera Farmiga on the Bates Motel series (2013-2017) and Anya Taylor -Joy in 2017’s Thoroughbreds, I was curious what it was about working around Wright’s creative choices on The Girlfriend, not only as an acting partner, but with Wright also directing her in particular episodes, that directly impacted her own choices within their scene work together.

Cooke said, “It was my first time working opposite an actor who was also directing me – and so, there was such a short chain of command, and it was so amazing to be directed by Robin, just in the way that she changed her intonation or changed her body language – that allowed me to react in a different way. There was no like going off to the monitors, talking to the producers, talking with the writers and then being sent a note. It was just so kinetic in the moment and the ball was constantly in the air. She’s so brilliant and playful anyway, and sort of demands truth and honesty and really wanted to shake things up. She’d look at the scripts and be like – Well, how would you say it? And I’d be like – Well, I’d say it like this, and she’s like – Do that, do that. It was constantly like playing with different ideas and different line readings and different lines altogether. She just wanted to find the best way into the character and the scene, and she was very unpretentious with that. It was brilliant.”

What is also quite unique about the storytelling choices in The Girlfriend is how episodes cleverly present important moments within the dramatic narrative twice – once from Cherry’s perspective and the other from Laura’s perspective, which feeds into both the better understanding and sometimes even greater mystery in who we, the audience, should take sides within this heightening quarrel between the two of them. So, what was it like for Cooke to have to film similar scenes, over and over again, in different ways?

“Fun – really, really fun,” Cooke said, “You can dial things up to maximum and then dial them down again. That’s a bit of a treat for an actor because you feel completely safe in the knowing that your extremities aren’t going to feel like too much, because it’s coming from someone else’s projection. And so, it still felt like we were playing the same role – just sometimes our intentions, both Cherry and Laura’s, would be more malevolent than coming from a more maybe honest and understanding place.”

Beyond the intense clashing between characters, I also brought up with Cooke how I valued her character Cherry’s circumstance – not coming from a wealthy family and working hard to build a better life for herself, even when people in her own family laugh at her ambitions. So, how did Cooke appreciate or value Cherry’s tenacity in that way?

“I really rate – I really rate it. I really rate it in someone, I think – fantastic that someone who’s from a lower socioeconomic background wants to best their life themselves. I mean, that’s me. So, I’m sort of like, I’m biased. Cherry does sort of omit the truth/bend it/lie, but she’s not really hurting anyone. It’s small potatoes compared to what billionaires do all the time.”

As for when people choose to tune to see how this The Girlfriend series ultimately plays out, I wondered what Cooke is most excited for viewers to see of her acting work and creative choices here, maybe in a different light than she was able to feature in her previous projects.

Cooke joked, “How to walk in heels in the English rain. It actually takes a skill. I don’t have these bunions for nothing! I don’t know – that’s such a hard question to ask. That makes me quite shy. I just hope they enjoy it because it’s such a fun watch and it was really fun to get to act in this sort of sensationalized, high octane drama that’s a bit sexy and a bit frothy. I hope this brings just some bit of escapism at the moment.”

Switching gears for a moment, as Cooke is arguably best known so far in her career to many around the world for continuing to play Alicent Hightower in the House of the Dragon HBO Max series. I was curious of the filming status on the much-anticipated third season and if she can tease anything to fans about what is next for Alicent within this popular Game of Thrones television universe.

Cooke said, “What can I say? Well, we’re filming it currently. We’ve got like a month and a half left. Alicent has made a bargain at the end of season two, so she’s desperately trying to enact that. I mean, it’s huge – this season is huge. Every single penny has gone on the screen. I’m excited for people to see the behind-the-scenes of it when like the making of it comes out, because [showrunner] Ryan [Condal], when I’ve come to set has been showing me bits of like all the stunty stuff that’s been going on, and it’s mad. It’s incredible.”

Between her work on The Girlfriend, House of the Dragon and more, I was curious how these lavish and attention-to-detail productions that she is a part of lately, have perhaps helped her grow, not only as a creative professional but just as a human.

“God, I mean, what I feel really lucky about is that I’m able to have a really wonderful career and I’m really lucky to be able to work with all the amazing people that I do, and also have like a very normal life. I think people are quite respectful of that, as well. I think, if anything, it’s made me realize that those two things can exist at the same time. You don’t need to spill your guts or go to the opening of every single envelope. You can just exist as an actor and also exist as a person, and people will honor that. You have to do your press where you’re contracted and sell the thing. I’m happy to – but it’s so important to have a very, very, very normal life as much as you can, in order to play a plethora of people.”

Quickly following up from her comments, I wondered how Cooke is able to stay grounded within the fame that comes with the work that she does, while maintaining a focus on the acting work above all else.

Cooke said, “Oh, I don’t really go to many places. I’ve got a really close knit group of friends. I live my life very, I don’t know – my life hasn’t changed. I’ve made a conscious effort for that not to happen. I do everything as I would, normally. If people come up to me and recognize me, then that’s really nice – but I always sort of like diffuse the energy as much as possible. I just don’t go out, really. If there’s an invitation, I’m usually always working anyway, but I don’t really like to go to fancy things, if I don’t have to.”

Being an artist that has been working in and around Hollywood for years, as well as on productions around the world, I was curious what she is liking about the ways and trends that she is seeing within the entertainment industry today, and if there are aspects when she first started out, that she wishes were still in place.

“Yeah, I love that there’s more awareness of people’s mental health and burnout and the strains that this job does have on people’s mental health. If you’re doing a really dramatic role and you’re doing it for months on end and you’re having to be in that headspace, like – I know it sounds trite, but the body doesn’t know the difference. And so, I think the safeguarding aspect is really important, that I wish was sort of around when I first started. It’s been really since Covid that that has ramped up, which is great.”

Cooke added: “Intimacy coordinators – fantastic. Love them. [They] make it so much easier to have a conversation and stand up for yourself and advocate for yourself in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re having to compromise anything.”

Next, in hopes to get to know Cooke on an even deeper level, I asked her one of my favorite questions – Who is Olivia Cooke in 2025? What brings the biggest passion and purpose to your days lately?

Cooke said, “I would like to say that in 2025, I’m striving to be a more worldly, compassionate person, I’d say. Yeah, I’m trying.”

Looking beyond her new The Girlfriend series, I wondered if Cooke has noticed her interests in the characters and the stories that she wants to tell, evolving at this point, and the types of stories that excite and intrigue her most these days.

“You know what? I think that has sort of like remained pretty steadfast throughout my career. I never just want to play like the girlfriend or the wife or the femme fatale. I want it to be murky and nuanced. I want to get my hands dirty and really dive into the machinations of a person. So, I’d say – even at 18 when I was first starting out, I still would like say no to a lot of things, even though I had no business saying no to things.”

As I concluded my in-depth conversation with Cooke, I left her with my signature and original interview question – What would you, Olivia, say to your The Girlfriend character, Cherry, after embodying her on-screen during these six episodes and could give her advice, a warning or a comforting message? What do you feel that she needed to hear, that you would have loved to have told her?

Cooke said, “Get an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). Just get a prescription. Please, baby girl – things don’t need to be that on the surface, you know? Just maybe like a six, nine-month course – just get a bit of perspective. I think maybe I’d do that, just like – Here’s my psychiatrist. Yes, they’ll help, they’ll do wonders. I promise.”