“Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke has no interest in watching the show’s spinoff, “House of the Dragon.”
Clarke, who starred as Daenerys Targaryen in the fantasy drama series that ran from 2011 to 2019, told Variety that she’s steered clear of watching the show’s prequel, “House of the Dragon,” because she “just can’t do it.”
All about the Targaryens, “House of the Dragon” tells the story of the royal family’s civil war that took place roughly 200 years before events portrayed in the original series.
Based on parts of George R.R. Martin’s 2018 novel “Fire & Blood,” the mythical show stars Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Tom Glynn-Carney, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans.
When asked about tuning into the prequel series, the British actor passionately declared why watching the show is a hard pass for her.
“It’s too weird. I’m so happy it’s happening. I’m over the moon about all the awards … I just can’t do it. It’s so weird. It’s so strange,” Clarke told the outlet at the Sundance Film Festival while promoting her new romantic comedy, “The Pod Generation.”
Comparing watching the show to having an awkward run-in with old classmates, Clarke added: “It’s kind of like someone saying, ‘You want to go to this school reunion that’s not your year? Want to go to that school reunion?’ That’s how it feels. I’m avoiding it.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Clarke showed love to Miguel Sapochnik, the show’s Season 1 co-showrunner, who also teamed up with her to film some pretty epic episodes of “Game of Thrones.”
“Love him. Brilliant. Wonderful,” she gushed about the director.
Clarke isn’t the only “GoT” star who didn’t seem too eager to watch “House of the Dragon.”
Speaking with The Associated Press in 2021, Kit Harington — who starred as Jon Snow in “GoT” — shared his hesitancy to tune into the series, adding that “there’s going to be a rawness there.”
“There’s emotion connected to that for me,” he said of the show at the time. “I think to see people get into outfits and costumes that resemble what we wore for all those years, and it [has] the same music and style and tone, but not be in it is always going to feel — there’s going to be a rawness there.”
“House of the Dragon” is available for streaming on HBO. Season 2 is set to release in 2024.
