Emilia Clarke continues to expand her grip on the world of acting… or should we say worlds? She’s pretty close to conquering Westeros as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones. She’s also an expert at time travel through her turn as Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys. And soon she’ll be taking over a galaxy far far away with a major role in the Han Solo Star Wars movie.
But it wasn’t always an easy time getting the roles she wanted. In a new profile from Harper’s Bazaar, Clarke talked about the frustration of getting passed over for plum theater roles during her time at the prestigious Drama Centre London because she had ‘the wrong look.’
“It got me angry,” she said. “Well, no, not angry. ‘Angry’ is the wrong word. But it pushed me into another casting type; forced me to be an actor. Instead of playing Juliet and doing the light, airy stuff, I would be the granny who cracks wise, or a down-and-out hooker who has seen better days.”
It all worked out for the best, with that anger and intensity earning her the role of dragon queen on Game of Thrones. It’s a great part, but some have tried to boil it and all of Thrones down to nothing more than “tits and dragons.” That’s an over-simplification that Clarke doesn’t appreciate at all.
“I’m starting to get really annoyed about this stuff now because people say, ‘Oh, yeah, all the porn sites went down when Game of Thrones came back on.’ I’m like, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale?’ I f**king love that show, and I cried when it ended because I couldn’t handle not seeing it. That is all sex and nudity. There are so many shows centered around this very true fact that people reproduce,” she adds. “People f**k for pleasure — it’s part of life.”
That view of Game of Thrones as more sex than substance may be disappearing in part due to the distinct lack of sex in season 7, which featured the least nudity of any season thus far. With only six episodes left to wrap up the entire saga, there may not be much more in season 8 either, even with the budding romance between Daenerys and Jon Snow set to play an important role. But if there is, we’d say you should take Emilia Clarke’s advice and don’t get all weird about it.
