After Emilia Clarke recently recalled feeling stung by criticism of her Dothraki, the language’s creator David J. Peterson has stepped in to set the record straight. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Peterson explained that Clarke may have misunderstood his remarks, emphasizing that Daenerys was never meant to speak Dothraki like a native. Instead, her imperfect delivery was intentional, reflecting the character’s struggle to learn the tongue under pressure.
Quick read:
- Peterson says he never criticized Clarke’s Dothraki.
- Daenerys wasn’t supposed to be fluent in the language.
- Imperfections were built into her lines deliberately.
Peterson’s clarification
Peterson explained: “I think Emilia may have misunderstood what I said, because I’ve never criticized her Dothraki. Why would I? Her character was never supposed to speak it like a first language, so she never had to be good at it.” He noted that actors like Jason Momoa, Amrita Acharia, Elyes Gabel, and Steven Cole had to master Dothraki fluently because their characters were born into it, unlike Clarke’s Daenerys.
Why imperfections were intentional
Peterson compared Clarke’s delivery to Colin Firth’s stuttering in The King’s Speech: “Criticizing any imperfections in her Dothraki performance would be like criticizing Colin Firth for stuttering in The King’s Speech. It would be entirely missing the point.” He revealed that grammatical errors were deliberately built into Clarke’s lines, even in the MP3s he recorded for her, to reflect Daenerys learning the language as a non‑native speaker.
Praise for Clarke’s High Valyrian
Peterson also highlighted Clarke’s skill with High Valyrian, the language Daenerys was meant to speak natively. “Her delivery and accent when speaking Valyrian is one of my cherished memories from the series,” he said, underscoring that Clarke’s performance captured the essence of her character’s linguistic journey across Westeros and Essos.
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