{"id":672672,"date":"2026-05-29T18:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/672672\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T18:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:51:14","slug":"emilia-clarke-on-game-of-thrones-salary-surviving-brain-hemorrhages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/672672\/","title":{"rendered":"Emilia Clarke on ‘Game of Thrones’ Salary, Surviving Brain Hemorrhages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe morning after the 2019 Emmy Awards, Emilia Clarke<\/a> woke up with a goal: to redefine what she saw as success.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy any measure Clarke was already wildly successful. As well as starring in big-budget \u201cTerminator\u201d and \u201cStar Wars\u201d spinoffs, she was the de facto queen of premium drama, thanks to her portrayal of warrior princess Daenerys Targaryen in HBO\u2019s blockbuster fantasy series \u201cGame of Thrones<\/a>.\u201d With her gutsy disposition and ice-blond braids, the Mother of Dragons became a byword for female empowerment, not to mention a costume party staple (both Madonna and Khloe Kardashian have donned the Daenerys getup).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tZoe McConnell for Variety<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the movies \u2014 2015\u2019s \u201cTerminator Genisys\u201d and 2018\u2019s \u201cSolo: A Star Wars Movie\u201d \u2014underperformed. Then, in May 2019, \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d came to an abrupt and almost universally hated end: Mad with power, Daenerys is fatally betrayed by her lover-slash-nephew Jon Snow (Kit Harington) just as the long-coveted Iron Throne is finally within her grasp. Fans who\u2019d been rooting for \u201cDany\u201d for eight long years were furious. Even Clarke admits she was \u201cabsolutely livid\u201d about the manner of her demise.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, four months later, she was at the Emmys, her first time in the running for lead actress in a drama, having previously scored three nominations in the supporting category. While \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d ended on a downer (although it still holds the record for most-watched season of any series in HBO\u2019s history), winning would be a way to close that chapter on a victorious note. But on the night, Jodie Comer took home the award for \u201cKilling Eve.\u201d Clarke was crushed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m embarrassed to admit that not winning an Emmy was a really significant thing,\u201d she says when we meet at the Hotel Caf\u00e9 Royal in London one April afternoon. She recalls looking around the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles and thinking, \u201cEveryone\u2019s over \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 now \u2014 you\u2019re old news.\u201d Tired and sad, she skipped the after-parties and went home.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe next morning, Clarke vowed never to \u201cbehave that way again.\u201d \u201cI do not like that person,\u201d she thought, reproaching herself. The solution, she decided, was to redefine success. \u201cBecause clearly,\u201d she says with a self-deprecating laugh, \u201cI have a 13-year-old\u2019s idea of success.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tClarke was born to entertain. Even against the backdrop of a dreary hotel conference room, swaddled in a cozy cream sweater, she is riotous company, with a delightful habit of imitating voices as she recounts conversations, whether it\u2019s her best friend, writer Lola Frears, or Drake Doremus, the director of her upcoming indie feature \u201cNext Life,\u201d or even Arnold Schwarzenegger, her co-star in \u201cTerminator Genisys,\u201d who she reveals took her to see the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea during their press tour. (\u201cI was like, \u2018I don\u2019t think we need to get it for Snapchat, babe. I think we\u2019re good.\u2019\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Clarke nearly didn\u2019t go to drama school, having spent two years applying, without success, to institutions such as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She was only offered a place at Drama Centre London when another student dropped out at the last minute. Her path to \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d was equally fortuitous. Famously, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss shot a pilot (with Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys) but, after disastrous notes from HBO, jettisoned most of it and recast several roles. Clarke was working at the London Film Museum when her agent called. She ran to the bathroom to answer her phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was like\u201d \u2014 she affects a stage whisper \u2014 \u201c\u2018Hello?\u2019 And he said, \u2018You ever audition for \u201cGame of Thrones?\u201d\u2019 I was like, \u2018You\u2019ve just said gobbledygook. I have no idea what we\u2019re talking about.\u2019\u201d After multiple rounds of auditions in London and L.A., Daenerys was hers.<\/p>\n

\n\tInitially, Clarke was ecstatic (\u201cI genuinely had three weeks of parties\u201d), but during a preproduction vacation with her parents, she read her scenes for the first time. \u201cI just cried with fear,\u201d she recalls. Daenerys\u2019 first few minutes of screen time involve disrobing before being fondled by her on-screen brother as he discloses his plan to marry her off to a nomadic tribe of warriors. \u201cCan you imagine the terror?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

\n\tClarke is at pains to clarify that she didn\u2019t experience any \u201cbad stuff\u201d during \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d more a general insensitivity to how a 23-year-old might feel standing nude in a room full of strangers. \u201cBecause I know what it can be\u201d \u2014 she\u2019s talking about the \u201cbad stuff\u201d \u2014 \u201cand on \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 I never had that,\u201d Clarke explains. Does that mean she encountered it elsewhere? \u201cI\u2019ve experienced lack of care on other jobs,\u201d she replies, \u201cwhich I think could have been prevented with some consideration.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I probe whether she\u2019s talking about either \u201cTerminator Genisys\u201d or \u201cSolo: A Star Wars Story,\u201d both of which had troubled productions, it\u2019s the only time during our conversation Clarke politely declines to answer. \u201cI don\u2019t want to specifically say,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s just been a number of occasions where I\u2019ve been like, \u2018This ain\u2019t right.\u2019 And again, it\u2019s not through someone abusing power; it\u2019s through lack of thinking and care.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t(By contrast, the sex scene in Clarke\u2019s upcoming Prime Video series \u201cCriminal\u201d was a dream. \u201cI walked onto that set and saw the way that [director] Dee Rees was behaving, and I went to the loo and wept for my younger self, who did not get that.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tZoe McConnell for Variety<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGame of Thrones\u201d became a cultural phenomenon, upending the lives of its cast in more ways than one. For starters, there was the financial security, which enabled Clarke to pay off her parents\u2019 mortgage. (She says the main cast\u2019s reported salary of $300,000 per episode was wildly exaggerated. \u201cWe didn\u2019t earn that much. Can you imagine? I\u2019d have been driving a couple of Porsches!\u201d) And, of course, there was the global fame, which frightened and puzzled her. \u201cI spent a lot of time trying to understand it,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then you realize it\u2019s just a formula: The less you\u2019re on TV, the less famous you are. It comes and it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUnbeknownst to the world, other seismic shifts were also taking place in Clarke\u2019s life, or more specifically, her head. Not long after wrapping on the first season of \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d Clarke collapsed at the gym; she\u2019d had a brain hemorrhage, which required immediate hospitalization and emergency surgery. She suffered another hemorrhage after Season 3. Clarke didn\u2019t go public with her condition until 2019, when she launched SameYou, a brain injury charity that helps with all aspects of recovery. That\u2019s because, as well as the many physical effects of brain injuries, ranging from fatigue to loss of mobility, there is often survivor\u2019s guilt, she explains. \u201cFor a number of years, I felt that I had cheated death, and it was coming to get me,\u201d Clarke says. \u201cI truly felt like I had done something wrong, and I shouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d She adds: \u201cI also thought it ruined my ability to act \u2014 which some people might agree with!\u201d Clarke cackles.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was further heartbreak when her father died from cancer after Season 7, just as the frenzy around \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d was growing to the point that Clarke was scared to leave the house. Then came that controversial series finale, the Emmys and the pandemic, which shut down the industry. \u201cThe most extreme versions of life happened in that 10-year period,\u201d she reflects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOutside the show, there were forays into other franchises, concluding with the fast-forgotten Marvel series \u201cSecret Invasion\u201d in 2022. Clarke is under no illusion about how those projects were received. Of \u201cSecret Invasion,\u201d she says in a goofy voice, \u201cI don\u2019t think no one liked that show, guys. I\u2019m sorry!\u201d She continues: \u201c\u2018Star Wars\u2019? They didn\u2019t like it. \u2018Terminator\u2019? That should never have happened. But these were jobs I said yes to, you know what I mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWere the frosty receptions disappointing? \u201cI entered into already existing franchises,\u201d she says, \u201cso when they don\u2019t work out, it\u2019s not personal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhich brings us back to redefining success. The first step was to say \u201cno\u201d more often. \u201cI said no to a lot,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI need to wait for the right thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut eventually she realized the perfect job \u2014 just like the perfect house or the perfect man \u2014 might not exist, so she may as well have fun. Which leads to the second step of redefining success: taking on a role \u201cfor no other reason than that I would enjoy that job,\u201d she says. \u201cMy connection to a project ends when they say, \u2018Picture wrap.\u2019 Because it\u2019s not for me to decide what people will think of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn that vein comes \u201cNext Life,\u201d a \u201cSliding Doors\u201d-like romantic drama made on a shoestring budget; in it, she plays two versions of an aspiring jazz singer named Ivy. The film premieres at the Tribeca Festival next month. \u201cThis was one of the first times since making my decision about success that I realized how profoundly true that was,\u201d she says of enjoying the process. As soon as it wrapped, she let go of any potential anxiety about its reception. \u201cI need nothing from it,\u201d Clarke explains. \u201cIt\u2019s given me everything I ever needed, including a real friendship circle.\u201d She and Doremus even got matching ivy tattoos, which she enthusiastically shows me, rolling up the left sleeve of her sweater.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter that, there\u2019s \u201cCriminal,\u201d in which she plays an armed robber called Mallory, whom she gleefully describes as \u201call tits and gold chains.\u201d Meanwhile Bea, her character in recently released Peacock series \u201cPonies<\/a>,\u201d is the straight-edge wife of a CIA agent who sets out to investigate her husband\u2019s mysterious death in Soviet-era Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was such a joy to read,\u201d she says of \u201cPonies.\u201d \u201cQuite often, I\u2019ll get scripts where I\u2019ll go, \u2018Can\u2019t wait to watch it; don\u2019t want to be in it.\u2019 That was not this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAs well as taking on the lead role (opposite Haley Lu Richardson), Clarke also boarded as a producer. Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger, and the \u201cPonies\u201d team is hoping to get the greenlight for a second season order any day now. There have been \u201cmany discussions\u201d about where the show might go next. \u201cI\u2019m very fortunate to be an actual producer, so I get to be a part of these conversations,\u201d Clarke says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s an opportunity she didn\u2019t get on \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d \u201cAside from what I brought as an actor, I didn\u2019t have any creative input, nor did I want any,\u201d Clarke says. Not that she\u2019s salty about it: She calls Benioff and Weiss \u201cgeniuses\u201d while dismissing her younger self as \u201cnot qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite that, could she have persuaded the duo to change Daenerys\u2019 fate? Clarke, who looks horrified at the thought, interjects before I can even finish the sentence. \u201cNo,\u201d she replies, explaining that Benioff and Weiss were \u201cfastidious about us saying the lines exactly as they\u2019ve written them\u201d \u2014 to the point that if she said \u201cit\u2019s\u201d instead of \u201cit is,\u201d they\u2019d ask her to go again. All of which meant that while it was Clarke who brought Daenerys to life over eight years, she never felt like she had a hand in developing her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was given the seasons, and I, to the best of my ability, empathized and understood and tracked every choice she made so it felt like mine,\u201d she says. \u201cI felt like that was what my job was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUnquestionably, she succeeded, turning the Mother of Dragons into a bona fide pop culture icon in the process. But it\u2019s only now, with the benefit of hindsight, that Clarke can fully appreciate the experience. \u201cI have gone through every circuitous route to get to the place that I am now, which is finally being able to be very grateful for everything that \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 did and has given me. I no longer feel trapped in it, or trapped in the result of being in it,\u201d she says thoughtfully. \u201cI feel just really lucky that it happened to me \u2014 even luckier that I\u2019ve had time to understand what that was, and now I feel firmly on the other side.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tCharity Spotlight: SameYou<\/p>\n

\n\tEmilia Clarke experienced not one but two brain hemorrhages while playing the Mother of Dragons in \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d At the time, \u201cI was lost in a sea of \u2018What next?\u2019 when it came to my recovery and aftercare of a brain injury,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tClarke\u2019s journey was all the more fraught because the very public actress was determined to keep her condition private for as long as she could. She finally told her story in 2019, just before \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d broadcast its eighth and final season, when she launched SameYou, a charity dedicated to brain injury recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBrain injury is very specific, because if I were to ask you where you think you reside in your body, you would probably say your brain,\u201d she says. \u201cSo when that most fundamental part of yourself fails you, it\u2019s terrifying on such an existential level. And it happens to one in three of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSameYou partners with academics and doctors to find new ways to assist recovery, such as ground-breaking therapies and new trials. \u201cI know what it feels like to leave hospital and not know where to turn,\u201d Clarke says. With the support of SameYou, she hopes other survivors won\u2019t feel so alone.<\/p>\n

\t\tLocation: Hotel Cafe Royal; Production: Joel Gilgallon\/Joon; Styling:\u00a0 Emma Jade Morrison\/The Wall Group; Hair: Earl Simms\/Caren using Sam McKnight; Makeup: Naoko Scintu\/The Wall Group; Full Look: Dior\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The morning after the 2019 Emmy Awards, Emilia Clarke woke up with a goal: to redefine what she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[146711,88,52585,196048],"class_list":["post-672672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-emilia-clarke","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-ponies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}