Emilia Clarke Reveals How Playing Daenerys on ‘Game of Thrones’ ‘Literally Saved My Life’
Emila Clarke admitted her Game of Thrones character, Daenerys Targaryen, saved her life.
Earlier this year, the actress opened up about the two life-threating brain aneurysms she suffered shortly after she finished filming season one of GoT. At the time, she revealed she thought she wasn't going to survive, but in a new interview for Variety’s "Actors on Actors" issue, Clarke credits her character for getting her through the worst times.
"I always say that Daenerys literally saved my life because it puts you in quite the headspace when you’ve had a brain injury," she said. "Walking in her shoes, I just put so much more into each season because it really was life or death."
She went on to say that Dany gave her the strength to move forward and helped her focus on her performance rather than her health. Clarke explained, "I felt so powerfully that she was saving me. I could only see her. That was my single point of focus that allowed me to not think about anything scarier than just getting on set."
Elsewhere in the interview, Clarke, who has a number of upcoming movie projects lined up, reflected on the last 10 years of her life and how she reacted to GoT coming to an end.
"Having it come to its completion feels utterly surreal. So much life has happened in the 10 years that I’ve been on the show," she said. "I’ve grown into a woman. I was 23. It’s been almost a year in post, and it’s taken me that long to come to terms with it. Where are my dragons? That famous line. Where the hell are they? It felt deeply emotional."
"When it did finally end, it broke everyone," she added.
As for whether Clarke took anything from set, the answer is no. "I didn’t take anything, and I deeply regret it, and I’m very annoyed," she confessed. "I’m really hoping that the showrunners give me a dragon."
Watch a snippet of Emilia Clarke's Variety interview, below: