Game of Thrones fans know all the names of Daenerys Stormborn from House Targaryen: “First of Her Name”, “The Unburnt”, “Queen of the Andals and the First Men”, “Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea”, “Breaker of Chains” and "Mother of Dragons". But they probably know much less about the actress who plays her. Emilia Clarke has had a life almost as fantastic as the character that brought her fame. Here are just a few tidbits from the 32-year-old Londoner.
Here are 11 interesting facts about actress Emilia Clarke, which was written in the hearts of fans as Daenerys Targaryen.
1. Emilia wanted to become an actress from an early age.
Show business runs through her veins. When she was 3 years old, she took part in the musical Showboat, which her father, a sound engineer, helped put on. "We sat her in the front row at the London Palladium," said her mother, Jenny. "She sat on my lap through the whole musical, mesmerized from start to finish." It was then that Emilia also decided that she wanted to become an actress.
2. Her father didn't give a hoot about the pitfalls of acting.
When Emilia expressed her desire to be an actress, her father made sure that Emilia really understood what it means to be in this profession. "He wanted me to know that there are no fabulous earnings here and that I'm realistic about it," Emilia told Esquire in 2015. "He told me that the only text I would have to learn was 'Would you like fries with that?'"
3. She played Audrey Hepburn's famous character, Holly Golightly, on Broadway.
In 2013, Clark made her Broadway debut as Holly Golightly in the stage version of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Despite her acting skills, the play did not receive good reviews and tickets sold poorly. After a month, the game was withdrawn.
4. She is the second person to play Daenerys Targaryen.
In the original Game of Thrones test episode, Daenerys played Tamy's Merchant. Although this episode never aired, a script recently surfaced confirming that the first episode was problematic. David Benioff and DB Weiss ended up 'overdubbing' around 90 % test episodes to create the first official episode “Winter is Coming”. And that, for an as yet unknown reason, required a second Daenerys as well. Clark has thus far earned three Emmy nominations.
5. She did not take nudity in the Game of Thrones series lightly.
Although the character of Daenerys Clark brought her worldwide fame, she admitted that it was not always easy for her. The nudity and the infamous rape scene took their toll. "Once I had to take a serious break," she told Esquire about filming the first season. "I asked for a cup of tea, cried and was already ready for the next scene."
6. She idolized Arnold Schwarzenegger as a child.
After being practically forced by her brother to watch the first two Terminator movies as a child, Clark became a huge fan of the film series and Arnold. When she was preparing for her role in Game of Thrones, she told the Irish Examiner that she “watched Sarah Connor so that it would be easier to embody a strong woman. So it was pretty funny when I got the audition for Terminator: Genisys.” She later also starred in this film.
7. Emilia is extremely musically talented.
Emilia has an extraordinary talent for music. With her alto, she can sing ballads, blues, cabaret and jazz like a pro. He can also play the piano, flute and guitar.
8. Fans often don't recognize her.
If you've only seen Emilia in Game of Thrones, then you might be expecting platinum long hair. But that was just a wig until 2017, when Emilia dyed herself blonde. Its natural color is much darker. Emilia admitted that fans often did not recognize her with brown hair. "They don't recognize me, really," the actress told Conan O'Brien. "If they see me on the street with Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, or Gwen Christie, who plays Brienne of Tarth, people ask me to take pictures of them with the stars."
9. Before playing Daenerys, he worked three to six jobs at once.
Before her breakthrough role, Clark worked as a waitress, a call center agent and a licensed real estate agent.
10. She also had other irons in the fire.
Emilia had a backup plan. If she hadn't worked out with an acting career, she would have been a singer, an architect or a graphic designer.
11. She was teased as a child because of her eyebrows.
Today, it's one of her beautiful facial features, but she wasn't always a fan of her eyebrows herself - especially as a child when others teased her about them. Fortunately, she had a mother who knew what to do. "My imam had rules for me: 'Don't do drugs, don't have sex and don't touch your eyebrows.' And I didn't. Today I am grateful for this advice.”
