Emilia Clarke is opening up about her time baring it all onGame of Thronesand the pressures she faced in getting naked for the show. On a recent edition of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Clarke appeared as a special guest to speak about her work on the hit HBO series and spent some time touching on filming nude scenes. Referencing her Season 1 nude scene in particular, Clarke suggests she wasn’t overly thrilled about stripping down for the show, but as a newcomer to the business, she presumed it must have been necessary. From the podcast:
“I took the job and then they sent me the scripts and I was reading them and it was like, ‘Oh, there’s the catch!’ But I’d come fresh from drama school and was like, approach this as a job. If it’s in this script, then it’s clearly needed.”
Emilia Clarkealso details working with Jason Momoa, who played her first husband in the freshman season ofGame of Thrones. Describing him as an “incredibly kind” man who helped take care of her on set,Jason Momoa’s supportled to Clarke getting more “savvy” with what she would be willing to do for the series when it comes to nudity. Of course, this led to some awkward moments on the set with show staffers allegedly pressuring Clarke to go nude to please the show’s fans, and here’s how Clarke describes responding to those requests.
“I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, ‘No, the sheet stays up,’ and they’re like, ‘You don’t wanna disappoint yourGame of Thronesfans’. And I’m like, ‘f–k you.'”
While Clarke may have begun limiting herGame of Thrones nude scenesat a certain point, she remained open to doing them so as long as the scene made sense. This includes her final nude scene filmed for the series, which saw Daenerys emerging naked from a fire in the midst of Season 6. To be fair, the moment is a particularly badass scene for theMother of Dragonsand certainly doesn’t feel like gratuitous nudity in the way many other scenes from the show had felt.. Here’s what Clarke said about her finalGame of Thronesnude scene in Season 6:
“I was like, I’m owning this. This is mine, they’ve asked me to do it, and do you know what? I’m f****** game.”
From its very first season, Clarke has been a fan favorite cast member ofGame of Thronesin her role as Daenerys Targaryen. From her meek beginnings to her short-lived reign as the queen, the character’s journey made for some of the most compelling moments on the series. That the character wound up losing her marbles to become the most destructive ruler in all of Westeros was among the biggest complaints of the controversial final season of the show, as longtime fans were hoping for a more satisfying ending for the Mother of Dragons. Writing issues aside, most franchise fans would still agree that the role as always played perfectly by Clarke from beginning to end, and nobody else could have possibly done it better.
Complaints about the show’s final season notwithstanding, starring onGame of Throneshas been nothing less than an incredible run for Clarke. In a series filled with many other colorful and badass characters, it definitely means a lot for Daenerys to be perhaps the most memorable of them all. Her presence will certainly be missed on the upcoming prequelHouse of the Dragon, but knowing the franchise, chances are the aspect of excessive nudity will be returning. You can listen to the full interview with Clarke on theArmchair Expert Podcast.
