Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke (born October 23, 1986, London, England) is an English actress who is best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen on the hugely popular TV series Game of Thrones (2011–19). Her other notable roles include Sarah Connor in the action movie Terminator Genisys (2015).

Early life

Clarke is one of two children born to Jennifer Clarke, a business executive, and Peter (“Rick”) Clarke, a theater sound engineer. The family lived in Oxfordshire, England. Emilia Clarke developed a passion for acting when, at age three, she attended a production of Show Boat that her father was working on. Two years later she landed her first lead role in a school play and more theatrical productions followed. Clarke went on to study at Drama Centre London, from which she graduated in 2009.

Game of Thrones

Clarke’s first professional acting job was a minor part in an episode (2009) of Doctors, a medical soap opera. She next was cast in the TV movie Triassic Attack (2010), an action comedy about a small town battling dinosaurs. Clarke then landed her breakthrough role: Daenerys Targaryen on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–19), which was based on George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire fantasy books. However, she was not the first actress chosen for the part. In the first pilot episode, Tamzin Merchant appeared as Daenerys, but it was subsequently decided that the character should be recast and that the episode should be reshot. Clarke won the role that would elevate her to international stardom.

Game of Thrones centers on numerous characters battling for the Iron Throne of Westeros. At the show’s outset, Daenerys is meek and insecure, forced into a marriage with Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo (played by Jason Momoa) as part of her brother’s scheme to become king. However, over the course of eight seasons, she transforms into a leading contender for the throne and becomes known as the “mother of dragons,” a reference to the dragons she controls. For her performance, Clarke received three Emmy nominations for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series (2013, 2015, and 2016) and one nomination for outstanding lead actress in a drama series (2019).

Other credits

While in Game of Thrones, Clarke pursued a film career. In 2012 she made her big-screen debut, starring in the music comedy Spike Island. Three years later she played Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys, part of the blockbuster action series Terminator. Her costars included Arnold Schwarzenegger as the legendary cyborg. In Me Before You (2016), Clarke was cast as the caretaker of a paralyzed man. The romantic drama, which was adapted from Jojo Moyes’s best-selling book, was a box-office hit. Clarke then joined the Star Wars franchise, portraying Qi’ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). The sci-fi adventure grossed nearly $400 million worldwide but was considered a commercial disappointment.

Clarke later starred in the holiday comedy Last Christmas (2019), playing an aspiring singer working as an elf at a retail store. In 2022 she lent her voice to the animated family film The Amazing Maurice. The following year she played the Skrull G’iah in the TV miniseries Secret Invasion, part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its all-star cast included Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Colman, and Don Cheadle.

Clarke also continued to appear on stage, and in 2013 she made her Broadway debut, playing Holly Golightly in an adaptation of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. However, it received negative reviews and closed after a month. In 2020 she began appearing in previews for her first West End play, Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, but the production was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When it officially opened in 2022, Clarke earned praise for her portrayal of the ingenue Nina.

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Health issues

In a March 2019 essay for The New Yorker, Clarke revealed that she had suffered two aneurysms during the early 2010s. The first occurred in 2011 and required an emergency operation. For a time Clarke suffered from aphasia and was unable to communicate. She contemplated suicide after a second, more severe aneurysm in 2013. She spent a month in the hospital and endured a great deal of pain. In 2019 Clarke launched the charity SameYou, which seeks to improve access to neuro-rehabilitation for people who have had a stroke or brain injury.