HBO/PAIt’s hard to imagine anyone but Emilia Clarke portraying Daenerys from Game of Thrones.
Whatever you may think of the way Game of Thrones wrapped up, the 33-year-old actor breathed undeniable fire into the Mother of Dragons, imbuing her with all the passion and iciness the role called for.
Now one of the most recognisable actors on the planet, Clarke is a picture of confidence and career contentment. So it’s admittedly hard to remember she started out as an unknown drama school grad without the power or knowledge to question decisions made on set.
HBOOpening up about her early experiences while on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, the Last Christmas star addressed the copious amounts of nudity in Game of Thrones.
Clarke herself appeared in various nude scenes, an aspect of her work she wasn’t always 100% comfortable with.
Speaking with Shepard, Clarke revealed she had refused nude scenes she hadn’t been informed of in advance, despite being warned covering up would ‘disappoint’ Game of Thrones fans.
Clarke said:
I’m a lot more savvy [now] with what I’m comfortable with, and what I am okay with doing,
I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, ‘No, the sheet stays up’, and they’re like, ‘You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans’. And I’m like, ‘F*ck you’.
HBOClarke also admitted to finding the ‘f*ck ton of nudity’ in the explicit first season overwhelming, and a part of the role she had to come to terms with before stepping onto the set.
Clarke told Shepard:
So I came to terms with that beforehand, but then going in and doing it… I’m floating through this first season and I have no idea what I’m doing, I have no idea what any of this is.
I’ve never been on a film set like this before, I’d been on a film set twice before then, and I’m now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do and I don’t know what’s expected of me, and I don’t know what you want and I don’t know what I want.
Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything, I’m not worthy of needing anything at all… Whatever I’m feeling is wrong, I’m gonna cry in the bathroom and then I’m gonna come back and we’re gonna do the scene and it’s gonna be completely fine.
HBOClarke proceeded to explain how none other than Jason Momoa – who played her on-screen husband Khal Drogo – was the one who allowed her to see she had ultimate authority when it came to nude scenes.
Clarke said:
It was definitely hard, which is why the scenes, when I got to do them with Jason, were wonderful, because he was like, ‘No, sweetie, this isn’t okay’. And I was like, ‘Ohhhh’.
You can catch Emilia Clarke in festive flick Last Christmas, out now in cinemas.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.