Emilia Clarke has opened up about a painful experience during her time on Game of Thrones, revealing that brutal body shaming led her to stop Googling herself entirely.
Quick read:
- Emilia Clarke has stopped Googling herself
- She recalls a body shaming article from years ago
- It affected her and her family
The body shaming incident that “destroyed” her
In a new podcast with host Elizabeth Day, the actress who played Daenerys Targaryen shared that a newspaper article focusing on her body, specifically commenting on her “bum” deeply affected her. The piece was so cruel that her own father read it and showed it to her, leaving her devastated. Clarke described the impact with raw honesty saying,
“My dad was reading the newspaper but there was some article in it about the size of my bum. It was read to me and destroyed me, completely destroyed me. I’m sure they were trying to be like, hey, look at that, a regular size butt on TV. How nice. But that robbed me of any desire to ever read anything about myself. And I’ve never Googled myself. You know, Game of Thrones is a racy show. There’s a lot of comments. It’s a lot of stuff.”
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The constant public scrutiny and objectification of her body while she was starring in one of the biggest shows in the world became overwhelming. As a result, she made the decision to stop searching her own name online.
A common struggle for young stars
This revelation highlights the darker side of sudden global fame. Clarke was in her early 20s when Game of Thrones exploded in popularity, and the intense media attention on her appearance took a significant toll on her mental health. By stepping away from online searches about herself, Clarke protected her peace and focused on her work and well-being. Now, 15 years after the show first premiered, Clarke says she has made peace with her legacy.
