While she was being praised as cultural icon Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke was battling her own horrors in the form of two brain aneurysms.
Clarke has opened up before about her harrowing medical emergency, which happened while she was filming the hit HBO series. At the time, she was afraid that she could possibly lose her job because of it.
The actress told Big Issue, “When you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight,” Clarke said.
Those insecurities included a fear of being fired from the popular fantasy series. She added, “The first fear we all had was, ‘Oh my God, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I’m not capable of completing the job?’”
She added, “Having a chronic condition that diminishes your confidence in this one thing you feel is your reason to live is so debilitating and so lonely. One of the biggest things I felt with a brain injury was profoundly alone. That is what we’re trying to overcome,” she added. But she also says that fighting has helped her have a new outlook on life. “It has given me a superpower.”
Clarke did not get fired. But the fear stayed with her. In 2019, she recalled her challenges while filming the second season of Thrones. “On the set, I didn’t miss a beat, but I struggled,” she admitted. “Season two would be my worst. I didn’t know what Daenerys was doing. If I am truly being honest, every minute of every day I thought I was going to die.”
Since Game of Thrones finished in 2019, Clarke has been taking on smaller projects, but she looks back on her Thrones time fondly. “Daenerys has a part of my heart. She is in there, and I’ll never forget.”