“It Really Messed Me Up”: Emilia Clarke on the Emotional Toll of Game of Thrones’ Final Season

When Emilia Clarke first read the scripts for Game of Thrones‘ final season, she experienced a profound emotional breakdown that lasted far beyond the initial shock. The scripts revealed that her character, Daenerys Targaryen, would transform into the Mad Queen and ultimately be killed by Jon Snow—a trajectory Clarke had never anticipated. The revelation was so devastating that she found herself calling her mother in distress, unable to process the betrayal of everything she believed her character represented.

Quick read:

• Emilia Clarke called her mother in distress after reading Game of Thrones finale scripts, asking existential questions about Daenerys’ character that confused her family.

• She struggled to reconcile eight years of portraying a compassionate character with Daenerys’ sudden transformation into the Mad Queen.

• Despite her devastation, Clarke defended her professional commitment to executing the controversial arc with integrity.

A Midnight Crisis That Left Her Questioning Everything

The moment Clarke received the final scripts, she spiraled into genuine distress. “I called my mom and [told her], ‘I read the scripts and I don’t want to tell you what happens but can you just talk me off this ledge? It really messed me up,’” Clarke confessed in an interview with the NYT.

But her mother couldn’t help without understanding what had upset her so deeply. Clarke then began asking her family a series of bizarre, existential questions that revealed just how much she had internalized her character’s moral code.

“And then I asked my mom and brother really weird questions. They were like: ‘What are you asking us this for? What do you mean do I think Daenerys is a good person? Why are you asking us that question? Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you okay?’”

A Performance Rooted in Character Commitment

Despite her shock and devastation, Clarke has publicly defended her commitment to executing the transformation professionally. She acknowledged that while she understood fan outrage over the rushed nature of Daenerys’ descent, “you can’t do justice to the character that you poured your blood, sweat and tears into for a decade without getting on the same page.”

This statement reveals Clarke’s fundamental approach to acting—that even when faced with a direction she disagreed with, she couldn’t abandon the character she had nurtured since the show’s beginning.

Read next: Kit Harington Was Genuinely Angered by Fan Petition to Remake Game of Thrones Season 8: “How Dare You?”