Olivia Cooke

Olivia Kate Cooke is an English actress born on 27 December 1993. She is best known for her television roles as Alicent Hightower in the HBO fantasy drama series House of the Dragon, Emma Decody in the thriller series Bates Motel, Becky Sharp in the period drama Vanity Fair, and MI5 agent Sidonie "Sid" Baker in the thriller series Slow Horses. Her major film work includes starring roles in Ready Player One, Sound of Metal, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

Cooke was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, to sales representative Lindsay Wilde and police officer John Cooke. Following her parents' divorce during her childhood, she lived with her mother and sister. She began acting at age eight at the Oldham Theatre Workshop, an after-school drama programme in her hometown. Cooke attended Royton and Crompton Academy and studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College, leaving before finishing her A-levels to star in the drama series Blackout. At age 14, she secured a local agent who landed her commercial roles, and in 2012, she appeared in a tour video for One Direction.

Cooke made her professional television debut in 2012, appearing in three BBC mini-series productions: Blackout, The Secret of Crickley Hall, and completed filming for the feature film The Quiet Ones. Preferring television work to stage acting due to the gestures required on stage, she acquired an agent in Los Angeles and secured her first American role as Emma Decody in A&E's Bates Motel. She adapted her character to feature a Mancunian accent and contributed short videos for the character's fictitious blog.

In 2014, Cooke appeared in the science fiction film The Signal and starred as protagonist Laine Morris in the supernatural horror film Ouija. Despite receiving negative critical reviews, Ouija became a box office success, grossing approximately $102.5 million worldwide.

Cooke achieved a major career breakthrough in 2015 with the coming-of-age film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, shaving her head to portray a female lead battling leukaemia. The film earned both the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at the Sundance Film Festival. That same year, she voiced the Loch Ness Monster in an episode of Axe Cop. She subsequently starred in films such as Katie Says Goodbye, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, Thoroughbreds, Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, Life Itself, Sound of Metal, and the comedy thriller Pixie.

Cooke expanded into executive producing with the 2020 independent sci-fi drama Little Fish, in which she also starred. Beginning in 2022, she joined the main cast of House of the Dragon and appeared in Slow Horses. In 2025, she starred as Cherry Laine in the Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller miniseries The Girlfriend. Cooke resides in London and is in a relationship with actor Ralph Davis.