Being in the public eye places celebrities in a fishbowl of sorts, under constant scrutiny by everyone, it seems. Their own peers, fans, perhaps even their own families.
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke expressed earlier this month her fear about being viewed a certain way by those around her. Here’s what she said and why she feels this way.
She’s been very open about her medical scares
Clarke has undergone surgery on her brain to address not just one, but two hemorrhages. The first surgery took place in 2011 after filming had finished for Season 1 of her hit series on HBO. The second one took place in 2013 after the show’s third season had ended.
Having such major surgery in such a short span of time can leave anyone feeling defeated. The Last Christmas star penned an essay for The New Yorker in 2019 in which she put it all in perspective.
“I’m telling you the truth in full. Please believe me: I know that I am hardly unique, hardly alone. Countless people have suffered far worse, and with nothing like the care I was so lucky to receive.”
With the actress’ father having passed away in 2016, it’s safe to say the past eight years have not been in any form easy for her.
“I’m quite a resilient human being,” Clarke told CBS Sunday Morning earlier this month, “so a parent dying and brain hemorrhages coinciding with success and people following you in the street and getting stalkers – you’re just, like, ‘Well let’s try and make something sensible of it.’”
Her struggle with anxiety
The actress has also been pretty open with the public about her private struggle with anxiety. Especially after reaching, so quickly and intensely, the height of fame as the Me Before You actress has, it has been a great deal for the 33-year-old to take in.
“I do get recognized more now,” she told MSN in March of 2019. “Sometimes you walk down the street and someone is like, ‘Wah.’ I do feel very guarded about my anonymity. You know, I like going to the butcher’s and having a chat and it being a normal thing.”
“I like human interaction. I value it, I appreciate it. It’s what makes me feel happy. So when that is taken away with someone looking at you in a different guise, it can be incredibly difficult. It can be anxiety-inducing.”
How Clarke doesn’t want to be viewed
After all that she’s gone through at such a young age and so quickly, it’s easy to understand Clarke feeling more sensitive than she normally might have. Spending so much time in the hospital, undergoing so many procedures and, of course, surgeries can leave the strongest among us feeling fragile.
In an interview with The Guardian earlier this month, the actress commiserated with their reporter about having similar surgeries and the aftermath on the patient’s psyche.
“Well, you know, then. You know the worries. That people will think your soul, your movement, your voice, who you were,” [is gone].”
Talking about her column in The New Yorker, the actress said, “It was nerve-racking to share it, to be honest. It always is, when you make yourself vulnerable. . .I didn’t want people to think of me as… sick.”
“. . . there was only one time on set where I just physically couldn’t stop crying. It’s the other stuff that we don’t discuss – the functional grief; when your worldview and your perspective on life and yourself changes irrevocably, forever.”
