It’s her raciest role to date and sees her playing a scheming social climber who abandons both her principles and her clothes as she seduces a naive trust fund heir, much to the chagrin of his mother.
Now actress Olivia Cooke has revealed that she took inspiration from her glamorous sister Eleanor as she filmed the hit Amazon Prime series The Girlfriend.
She says the fictional Cherry Laine character not only shares her younger sibling’s good looks and charming personality, but also her fiery temper.
Emphasising that ‘my sister is not crazy,’ Olivia went on to explain that they share certain characteristics that helped her get into the right mindset for the role.
And our exclusive pics of mother-of-one Eleanor, who lives a more ordinary life in the north of England, illustrate what she means.
Olivia, 31, said: ‘She’s going to kill me, but she reminds me of Cherry. When I read the script, I was like, ‘This is my sister!’
‘She’s really glam, so well presented, so charming, so funny, and has somewhat of a temper.’
Olivia and her sister Eleanor, now 26, were raised by their sales rep mum Lindsy Wild and retired police officer dad John Cooke in a former council house in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Actress Olivia Cooke (pictured) has revealed that she took inspiration from her glamorous sister Eleanor as she filmed the hit Amazon Prime series The Girlfriend
Pictured: Olivia Cooke and Robin Wright ‘The Girlfriend’ at a show screening in London on September 2
Olivia says the fictional Cherry Laine character not only shares her younger sibling’s good looks and charming personality, but also her fiery temper. Pictured: Olivia, her mother Lindsy and sister Eleanor
Her parents divorced when she was six and her sibling was just a toddler and the children went to live with their mum. However, pictures posted on social media show they remain a tight knit family.
Olivia performed at the Oldham Theatre Workshop from the age of eight and she moved to the United States and signed with an agent when she was just a teenager.
She went on to appear in a string of TV shows and the Steven Spielberg science fiction film Ready Player One before she won her breakout role as Alicent Hightower in the Sky Atlantic series House of the Dragon in 2022.
The Girlfriend is a very different show to the fantasy series, which is a prequel to Game of Thrones, but shot to the top of the streaming charts when it was released last month.
Viewers have been captivated by the lavish lifestyles of rich kid Daniel Sanderson, played by actor Laurie Davidson, and that of his possessive mother Laura, aka actress Robin Wright.
Estate agent Cherry comes from a working class background and her battle to win Daniel’s affections – often stripping naked to retain his focus – puts her at loggerheads with his mum, resulting in an internecine conflict between the women.
There is nothing to suggest that Eleanor, who lives in Oldham with her partner and young son, has been through a similar ordeal in real life.
Olivia and her sister Eleanor (pictured), now 26, were raised by their sales rep mum Lindsy Wild and retired police officer dad John Cooke in a former council house in Oldham, Greater Manchester
Olivia’s parents divorced when she was six and her sibling was just a toddler and the children went to live with their mum
But Olivia – who also mentioned having a brother in a recent interview – explained that channelling her sister’s traits gave her the confidence to step into such a markedly different persona.
Speaking on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, she said: ‘My brother’s basically like a beige wall. He won’t mind me saying that.
‘Whereas I will be the very intense one, shall we say. My sister has that mantle, so I was like, I think this (character Cherry) lives in me.
‘She has these amazing long nails, and she’s always like, ‘Olivia, if you want to do that to me again, you’ll know about it.”
