As the final season of Game Of Thrones approaches, Emilia Clarke has opened up on the reaction her role still gets. Eight years after she was first introduced.
Turns out being one of the most famous and beloved actors has its downsides, but more than that, she’s still getting stick for having more nude scenes in the first series than her female co-stars.
Speaking about her role as absolute boss Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series, Emilia rubbished claims her nudity and sex scenes were anything but empowering.
‘I get a lot of crap for having done nude scenes and sex scenes. That, in itself, is so anti-feminist,’ she told The Sun.
‘Women hating on other women is just the problem. That’s upsetting.’
The actress said of a scene in which she emerged from flames sans clothes (because, ahem, fire burns clothes, but anyway) was an ‘empowering’ moment that was far from sexual, adding: ‘It was naked, but it was strong.’
The 32-year-old is not about to stand by and have her show signalled out for not being empowering.
‘There are so many shows centred around this very true fact that people reproduce,’ she added. ‘People f*** for pleasure — it’s part of life.’
It’s not the first time the actress has gone in to bat for the show, that is sure to break a whole heap of records when it returns to screens next month.
Earlier in March she defended the level of nudity in the show (which we can probably all agree has toned down in the last few seasons, as the drama to catch the Iron Throne heats up).
‘Kit’s ass, someone else’s ass, my ass, it doesn’t matter! It’s not what the show is about, it’s not what any bit of acting is about,’ Emilia told Associated Press.
She added: ‘As for my character, I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve been naked.’
The star believes the message it has for empowering women is so much more important.
‘I can talk about the importance of women in this show until the cows come home,’ she continued.
‘It has gone a way to changing the landscape of the industry as we see it, which is really vital and really important.’
Game Of Thrones returns 14 April.
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