When fans think about Emilia Clarke’s time on Game of Thrones, they often picture a meteoric rise to fame, dragons, and global stardom. What they don’t see is the personal toll those years took behind the scenes. In a candid new interview with Marie Claire, Clarke reflected on a period marked by two life-threatening brain hemorrhages and the loss of her father, revealing that she spent much of her time on the HBO fantasy epic simply trying to survive.
Quick read:
- Clarke suffered two brain hemorrhages during Thrones.
- Her father’s death deeply affected her.
- She says she felt frozen for 10 years.
Game of Thrones coincided with immense personal loss
Speaking to Marie Claire ahead of her 40th birthday, Clarke opened up about the difficult events that unfolded shortly after Game of Thrones became a global phenomenon.
The actress revealed that her first brain hemorrhage occurred just weeks after season 1 wrapped.
“Season one wrapped at Christmas; by February, I was in hospital with my first brain hemorrhage. So my first press tour was me on morphine.”
The challenges didn’t stop there.
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In 2013, Clarke suffered a second brain hemorrhage.
“The second time, I was like, ‘This just is really, really, really, really hard.’ And then my dad died, and that completely undid me.”
Looking back, Clarke believes those experiences shaped much of her adult life.
“When I was filming Game of Thrones, I had zero curiosity about myself, about the experience, about anything. I was just in shock. I froze – for 10 years.”
Clarke says she kept going until everything caught up with her
Despite dealing with repeated health crises and grief, Clarke continued filming one of television’s most demanding productions while becoming one of the world’s most recognizable stars.
Reflecting on that period, she explained that her instinct was simply to keep moving forward.
“I was just like, ‘just keep going’. So then, when [Game of Thrones] stopped, all of these feelings came and took over me. COVID happened, it was a perfect storm.”
Today, Clarke views those difficult experiences differently.
She told Marie Claire that the years since have helped her develop greater empathy and self-awareness, allowing her to process emotions that had been buried during the whirlwind of filming and stardom.
Read next: Emma D’Arcy reveals Emilia Clarke helped them prepare for House of the Dragon
