Emilia Clarke might be a celebrated actress today, but the road to stardom came with serious physical and emotional tolls - starting with her iconic role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones.Though her portrayal of the dragon queen was legendary, the actress revealed that the behind-the-scenes experience wasn’t quite as powerful - at least not at first.“Imposter Syndrome Times a Million”: How Clarke Faced Her First Major RoleClarke was just 23 years old when she began filming Game of Thrones, and the weight of the role hit hard. Facing a long list of nude scenes, she admitted it was nothing short of “terrifying”.She later confessed to suffering “imposter syndrome times a million” while navigating the pressures of the massive HBO production. But thankfully, one co-star helped her make it through.Emilia Clarke. Credit: Francois G. Durand/Getty Images.While her character was destined to rule, Clarke’s earliest scenes included a disturbing wedding night moment with Khal Drogo, played by
Jason Momoa. Looking back, Clarke had only praise for the way he handled it.“He was crying more than I was," she said. "It's only now that I realise how fortunate I was with that, because that could have gone many, many, many different ways."Because Jason had experience – he was an experienced actor who had done a bunch of stuff before coming on to this – he was like, 'Sweetie, this is how it's meant to be, this is how it's not meant to be, and I'm going to make sure that that's the f**king gaze.'"He was always like, 'Can we get her a f**king robe? She's shivering!' He was so kind and considerate and cared about me as a human being."Despite Momoa’s support, Clarke said she would often end up “crying” before sex scenes, overwhelmed by the vulnerability of being completely naked on set.“I Didn’t Even Know There Would Be Nudity…”In a 2019 episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, Clarke opened up about how unaware she was of what the role truly demanded.“I took the job and then they sent me the scripts and I was reading them, and I was like, 'Oh, there's the catch!'” she admitted.“But I'd come fresh from drama school and I approached it as a job: if it's in the script then it's clearly needed. This is what this is and I'm going to make sense of it and that's what I'm going to do and everything's going to be cool. "I've never been on a film set like this before," she added."I'd been on a film set twice before then, and I'm now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don't know what I'm meant to do, and I don't know what's expected of me, and I don't know what you want, and I don't know what I want."Emilia Clarke rose to fame in Game of Thrones. Credit:
Taylor Hill/GettyCold War Drama With a Brutal TwistClarke stars in Ponies as Bea, a secretary at the US Embassy in 1970s Moscow, who’s actually a CIA asset sent to seduce high-level KGB agents.The job calls for more than a sharp mind and a steady hand... it also involves a steady stream of sex scenes.Speaking to The Wrap, Clarke recalled a particularly brutal day on set: “Three men, in a number of hours. Just keep bringing it - I’m going to sit on this thing, you’re going to bring them in, we’re going to pretend to have sex. I broke a rib that day.”Her co-star Haley Lu Richardson, who fans will recognize from The White Lotus Season 2, confirmed the on-set mishap, saying: “She’s such a tiny little sensitive body, meant she broke a rib.”Richardson also added that there was a whole parade of men coming through the makeup trailer after the shoot. “I was like ‘So how was it?’ They were like ‘Yeah! (panting)‘” she recalled.The Me Before You star said when she visited her doctor with the injury, they asked how she did it, and she didn't sugarcoat it: "Sex! Times three!"It didn’t fully break," she clarified. "It just popped out a little bit."Featured image credit: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
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