British actress Emilia Clarke has revealed that she was 'absolutely livid' upon learning the fate of her beloved character Daenerys Targaryen in the hit fantasy series 'Game of Thrones'. The 39-year-old actress, who portrayed the Mother of Dragons from 2011 to 2019, recently shared her emotional reaction to the controversial ending.
Emilia's Reaction to Daenerys' Death
In an interview with 'Variety', Clarke recalled being furious when she discovered that her character's love interest, Jon Snow (played by Kit Harington), would kill her in the final episode. Daenerys' last words to Jon were, 'We break the wheel together,' before he stabbed her. Clarke said, 'That is the last thing I say before the cheeky little s*** stabs me. F****** outrageous. I was so p*****. I was absolutely livid.'
She added, 'Outside of the controversy around her actions, him killing me really bummed me out. Kinda rude. I gave that man everything, burned cities to the ground for him, for us. I'm over it, clearly. I'm so over it, it's unreal. Livid.'
A Daze After Reading the Script
Clarke described how she spent hours in a 'daze' after first reading the scripts for the final season. She said, 'I just landed from a holiday and turned my phone on, and it went 'Bing'. Of course, there it is. Went home, sat down and did what I always do, which is read them all the way through, and then found myself walking out of the house in a daze, forgot my keys, forgot my phone, forgot everything, and just walked for hours to try to assimilate what it was that I had to do that season.'
An Existential Crisis After the Show
According to 'Female First UK', the actress experienced an 'existential crisis' after the series ended and it took her 'years' to process the impact. She recalled, 'You always get a bit emotional at the end of every single shoot. But this was like, 'I don't know what's happening to me', kind of crying. It was such a significant part of my life that was the entryway to my career, that ending it and then Covid happening, existential crisis here I come.'
She added, 'It's taken me years to comprehend what it was. It's taken me years to comprehend what it meant. I meet as many people who haven't watched it as who have. So, I'm just grateful that it happened. But I still can't quite wrap my head around it, if that makes sense.'
Gratitude for Daenerys
Despite her initial anger, Clarke expressed gratitude for her character. She said, 'I'm grateful to her. She taught me a lot.'
