Emilia Clarke had been the centre of attention on Game of Thrones for its decade long run. The show by itself has been a driving force behind changing the television medium, among other things. After such a long and successful run that made her career, Emilia took some time looking back on the journey and the power of Game of Thrones, in Variety’s Actors on Actors conversation with Regina Hall. Read on!
She started off by talking about how she felt in the early days of the show:
“I was just so happy to be employed. It was my first job. I knew that being in an HBO show was amazing, but more than anything, I knew that having a regular paycheck that wasn’t from waiting tables was also amazing.”
She then talked about how she’s changed with her success:
“I feel empowered with female life skills. It’s only the last few seasons of the show where I’ve allowed myself to indulge, ever so slightly, in “Oh, you got really lucky.” As opposed to “Don’t mess it up.” Now I’m able to fully love the textures and the feeling of playing Daenerys.”
As we know, Emilia had brain haemorrhages when she was on the show. She discussed how the show helped her recover:
“I always say that Daenerys literally saved my life, because it puts you in quite the headspace when you’ve had a brain injury. Walking in her shoes, I just put so much more into each season because it really was life or death. I felt so powerfully that she was saving me. I could only see her. That was my single point of focus that allowed me to not think about anything scarier than just getting on set. “
Emilia then discussed finishing the show and taking home props from the show:
“I didn’t take anything, and I deeply regret it, and I’m very annoyed. I’m really hoping that the showrunners give me a dragon. I need my smelly socks. I think I did take those.
Having it come to its completion feels utterly surreal. So much life has happened in the 10 years that I’ve been on the show. I’ve grown into a woman. I was 23. It’s been almost a year in post, and it’s taken me that long to come to terms with it. Where are my dragons? That famous line. Where the hell are they? It felt deeply emotional.”
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