Emilia Clarke on the shock Game of Thrones ending that reduced her to tears

It’s a mere week until the last-ever series of the show that made a superstar of Emilia Clarke hits our screens.

The 32-year-old actress was an unknown when she bagged herself the role of Daenerys Targaryen in Game Of Thrones (not too shabby as first jobs go, is it?).

Ten years later and she’s saying goodbye to the Mother of Dragons for good.

The actress (who has also been part of the Star Wars universe in Solo: A Star Wars Story, part of the Terminator franchise as Sarah Connor in Genisys, and turned her hand to the world of the rom-com in Me Before You) is tight-lipped about what happens in the final series, which is fine with us because we like surprises.

She does say GOT fans will definitely have closure at the end of the final episode, though.

As if Emilia’s success wasn’t impressive enough, she’s managed it all while battling very serious health issues, having recently revealed the shock news that she suffered a life-threatening stroke just after filming the first season of GOT.

Describing in horrifying detail the onset of a brain aneurysm in 2010, Emilia first started feeling ill during a workout session at the gym.

‘I reached the toilet, sank to my knees and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill. Meanwhile, the pain – shooting, stabbing, constricting pain – was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening – my brain was damaged,’ she said.

The actress had to have brain surgery, after which she could no longer remember her name.

‘In my worst moments, I wanted to pull the plug,’ she said. ‘I asked the medical staff to let me die.’

As if all this wasn’t traumatic enough, she had a second aneurysm in 2013 and this time had to have her skull opened up to remove it.

‘I looked as though I had been through a war more gruesome than any Daenerys experienced,’ she admitted.

Emilia, who is dating director Charlie McDowell, has now made a full recovery – beyond her ‘most reasonable hopes’ – and her brain injuries sure as heck haven’t affected her acting career.

She doesn’t take a second of it for granted, as is clear from her tribute to the show that made her name.

‘It’s been a trip. Thank you for the life I never dreamed I’d be able to live and the family I’ll never stop missing.’

How are you feeling about saying goodbye to Game Of Thrones
after so long?

Incredibly sad.

It’s really bittersweet.

It feels like leaving home.

But this is the end everyone has been waiting for and it’s a very exciting one.

What were the last days on set like?

Oh my goodness, it really is the most heartbreaking thing to be filming the last of everything.

I became an emotional wreck.

They were like, ‘Emilia, it’s only a shot of your hand, it’s OK. Just get over it now. We need to get some work done.’ And I was like, ‘But it’s the last time!’ Everything was making me very sad.

Obviously you can’t give anything away, but what kind of reaction do you predict from the fans?

Shock! It is going to be huge.

It’s taken us a very long time to shoot this one for a very good reason.

What was your reaction when you read the script?

I read the scripts in some kind of a daze.

I walked out of my house with only my keys.

About three hours later, I arrived back home and I still hadn’t taken it all in.

Does it end how you thought it was going to?

No, it completely surprised me.

I really think everyone is going to be surprised, not just at the ending itself, but by everything that happens before.

Are there going to be any scenes in Winterfell for you?

I’m not saying anything!

I CAN’T say anything!

How much of your life as an actress is keeping secrets?

All of it!

Only my dog knows everything.

What was it like doing love scenes with Kit Harington knowing Daenerys and Jon Snow are related?

Kit and I do this weird thing because we are mates – before we have a romantic moment, like going in for a snog, we just gag.

I’ll be like, ‘I’m going to throw up!’ It’s our funny joke, which is actually really accurate because it really is like snogging a family member.

What is it about Daenerys that people love?

It’s the dragons.

You can’t hate on dragons!

People get in her way and she’s like, ‘I’m going to get my dragons and I am going to kill you!’

Do you still get recognised as Daenerys when your hair isn’t blonde?

I can definitely hide for a really long time when I’m brunette.

Often, people just don’t recognise me at all because as Daenerys I’m quite serious, but as Emilia, I am not.

Unless I’m in a bad mood.

People recognise me if I get a bit moody, then they’re like, ‘Oh you’re from the television!’ If I am springing around, they don’t know
who I am.

Where do you get your confidence?

I’ve got no idea.

Fake it! When you are thrown in at the deep end, you’ve got two choices – let it overcome you, or you can overcome it.

I have always just managed to do the latter.

You’re fed up of the term ‘strong female character’ aren’t you?

I think it’s a cop-out and it doesn’t say anything.

It assumes all women are weak and they need to have that ‘strong’ bit in front, which is ridiculous.

We are all multi-faceted, highly functioning human beings.

In the show, Daenerys fights for injustice and against hate. In reality, how much do you fight for fairness?

I think where I can, I do.

But it’s a tricky ground when you are asking actors too much outside of their own industry.

I can talk about inequality and injustice in my workplace because that is something that I have experienced.

I think it’s very difficult holding an actor to an opinion just because we have this wonderful platform to speak out against things we believe are rife with inequality.

But everything that I can do to support equality across the board in all industries, I will absolutely put my heart into.

How has GOT changed your life?

It has given me my entire career and my entire life as I know it.

I genuinely owe it absolutely everything.

It’s changed everything and I feel incredibly lucky.

What is next for you?

Nothing! Just chilling.

These things are so big and you have these mad experiences and now I am like, ‘Play, anyone?’