Emilia Clarke landed the role of a lifetime, when she joined the stellar cast of Game of Thrones, as Daenerys Targaryen. Becoming an internationally acclaimed actress after delivering a splendid performance throughout the show, Clarke admitted feeling disappointed by the season finale, just like fans did.
However, that’s not all that Emilia Clarke felt while filming Game of Thrones. Apparently, while shooting the super controversial series, the British actress was also concerned for her life. Undergoing secret health struggles while filming, Clarke recalled wondering if she was going to die on the set of the HBO series.
Emilia Clarke’s Health Scare While Filming Game of Thrones
The eight seasoned extremely controversial HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, became a pop culture element following its release. Helming a stellar cast featuring Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Lena Headey, and more, the series portrayed the fight between seven kingdoms for an iron throne.
While the series earned global fame for all the actors, Emilia Clarke achieved extreme popularity for her role as Daenerys Targaryen. However, the actress admitted finding the series finale quite annoying, just like it didn’t fit with the fans. Clarke claimed to dislike the fact that her character became the primary antagonist and died at the hands of Jon Snow.
However, it wasn’t just her character who went through terrible times throughout the show, but also the actress herself. Apparently, Emilia Clarke was going through a serious health struggle while filming the HBO series but kept it a secret throughout. The British actress later revealed how she suffered a brain aneurysm, after filming the first season. In simple terms, the actress suffered a brain hemorrhage at a gym in London.
Emilia Clarke Was Scared Of Losing Her Life While Filming
Despite going through a severe brain hemorrhage, Emilia Clarke returned to the set of Game of Thrones, within a few weeks of surgery. However, the actress recalled the terrible times in a 2019 article she wrote for The New Yorker. Claiming how she was hiding her long dark hair under her tight blond wig, Clarke mentioned feeling like her skull was baking.
“I immediately felt as though an elastic band was squeezing my brain.”
Without realizing the underlying issue, the actress even canceled scheduled interviews because of heatstroke. But soon, she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and went through emergency brain surgery. Although the treatment left her temporarily unable to remember her own name, the actress returned to the set within weeks of her surgery.
Nonetheless, she later revealed during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, how she was warned about a second growth in her head that could “pop at any time”.
“It was crazy intense. We are in the desert in a quarry in like ninety-degree heat, and I had the consistent fear that I was going to have another brain hemorrhage. I spent a lot of time just being like: “Am I gonna die? Is that gonna happen on set? Because that would be really inconvenient.”
Irrespective of feeling fatigued and terrified of passing out in the desert, while filming, Emilia Clarke battled her health scare and delivered a phenomenal performance in Game of Thrones.
Watch Game of Thrones on Max.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker
