Clarke spoke about feeling ’empowered’ over performing the nude scene herselfEmilia Clarke explained why she didn’t want to use a body double during a particular Game of Thrones scene in season six.
Clarke played Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, who starts the show as a exiled princess who is then married to Dothraki warlord, Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) to pay for an army by her brother Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd), before becoming the ‘Mother of Dragons’ upon the birth of her three dragons.
The HBO show ran for eight seasons between 2011 and 2019, and over the years, Clarke has spoken about the challenges of filming some of the nude scenes in the show.
In fact, in an interview on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast in 2019, she said she didn’t even know about the nudity and sex scenes when she accepted the part.
Emilia Clarke played Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones (HBO)
“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 said.
“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’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.
“Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything. I’m not worthy of needing anything at all.”
Meanwhile, speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert back in 2016, Clarke explained why she decided not to use a body double for a fully nude scene in the sixth season of the show.
Clarke didn’t use a body double for the scene (HBO)
Speaking about a scene in which Daenerys emerges from a burning building with her clothes completely charred away after killing all the Dothraki Khals, she said: “I did it before in season one and people like to talk about it.
“So I just wanted to come out and do an empowered scene, which wasn’t sexual. It was naked, but it was strong.”
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, she later added: “I’d like to remind people the last time I took my clothes off was season 3.
“That was awhile ago. It’s now season 6. But this is all me, all proud, all strong. I’m just feeling genuinely happy I said ‘Yes.’ “That ain’t no body double!”
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke once feared she’d be fired from the hit show after she nearly died from a brain injury.
The British actor, who is best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy drama TV series, suffered two brain aneurysms, and recently, she said that she’d feared that her career on the show was in jeopardy.
The GOT star was finishing up a work out in a North London gym in 2011 when she began to feel quite unwell.
She said in a piece for the New Yorker in 2019 that she’d ‘tried to will away the pain and the nausea’ at first.
“I said to myself, ‘I will not be paralysed’,” she revealed, while continuing to move her fingers and toes and recall lines from the show to prove to herself that she was okay.
A scan showed that she was suffering from a subarachnoid haemorrhage, a life-threatening type of stroke.
She then underwent surgery and eventually recovered, however, she went through a second brain haemorrhage in 2013, while she was still acting on the show’s second season.
Clarke previously told CBS Sunday Morning: “The first time it was difficult, with the second one I found it much harder to stay optimistic.
Clarke had to undergo two serious surgeries in two years. (CBS)
“[I coped with it as a] a day to day thing. I definitely went through a period of being… down – putting it mildly.
“The second one, there was a bit of my brain that actually died. If a part of your brain doesn’t get blood to it for a minute, it will just no longer work. It’s like you short circuit. So, I had that.”
And recently, the 37-year-old spoke about how hard it was to return to work after her brain injuries in an interview with the Big Issue.
“When you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight,” she said.
“The first fear we all had was: ‘Oh my god, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I’m not capable of completing the job?'”
Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in GOT. (HBO)
She was back in work just weeks after her first haemorrhage, but spoke about her fear of dying of another haemorrhage because of the pressure around her work.
“Well, if I’m going to die, I better die on live TV,” she added.
Thankfully, she fully recovered from her injuries and went on to star in films such as Me Before You, Solo and Last Christmas. She also had a starring role in Marvel’s Secret Invasion in 2023.
Clarke and her mother, Jennifer Clarke, set up a charity to assist people with brain injuries, called SameYou.
The mother and daughter were made MBES earlier this year for setting the charity, which supports those who have experienced brain injuries.
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Most Game Of Thrones fans know by now that Emilia Clarke and Jason Momoa had the sweetest friendship onset, despite what might have gone on between their characters.
The two actors played Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo respectively, a couple whose relationship started off on fairly violent terms – making for some harrowing scenes of sexual violence – before Daenerys seemingly developed Stockholm Syndrome and fell in love.
And to make sure his co-star was comfortable and keep things light while filming some of their more distressing scenes, it turns out Jason Momoa pulled some wild stunts – much to the shock of Emilia herself.
Emilia recalled her pal’s hilarious prank during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, explaining: “There was the lovely, erm, the lovely ra*e scene early on in season one… so obviously, there’s nudity and you kind of have to try to lighten the mood.
“Not only was it a sex scene, it was a violent sex scene, so he decided for one of the scenes… not use a modesty sock, but use a beautiful pink, fluffy sock.”
Speaking of her shock, the actor added: “So, getting that close-up of me looking petrified, just like’ I didn’t want it to happen, it’s huge and it’s pink and I don’t know what to do!'”
HBO
Jason has also opened up about his decision to ditch the modesty sock for a pink fluffy number.
During a Game of Thrones Q&A, Jason recalled the exact same incident, sharing: “I was in Belfast and it’s December, and we’re going to shoot and it’s freezing and I’m the last one at Titanic studios.
“It’s cold… and I’m naked and I’ve got to walk into a room and show my ass and [Emilia] has to be looking at me, so I go in there and was like, ‘Make this done… let’s roll.’
“And I just wanted to get this done but the thing is, it was the only scene that was supposed to be in the very beginning and it got bumped, it got bumped, it got bumped and finally…I was the first one there, and I was the last f***ing thing to shoot. So I stayed there the whole time, but I shot the last scene of the whole thing. And I was like; ‘I’m going to have some fun with this.’
“So I went down and bought a little bag of these socks. Some fluffy pink polka dot socks with little animals and I put it in…appropriate places. I look around and there are these grips walking around everywhere and I’m like, ‘Whatever, it’s like a locker room. It’s all a part of making [Emilia] laugh.'”
Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo
He continued: “I turn around and I’m walking towards her and am just doing ridiculous moves just to make fun of her close-up, and she’s trying to hold it together, but she keeps laughing.”
When the director called Emilia out for laughing, she cried out: ‘Jason has a fluffy pink thing on his… penis.’
Eventually, the crew had to shoo Jason away to get through the scene without a laugh.
“And I was like: ‘I’m the only f***er in here naked! I don’t see anything more appropriate than me having a good time. I mean, this is awkward. Just let me make her laugh and I’ll try to get through this.'”
Emilia Clarke previously admitted she’s missing ‘quite a bit’ of her brain after surviving two ‘excruciating’ aneurysms.
Since suffering the brain haemorrhages in her 20s, the Game of Thrones star set up charity SameYou with her mum which works to develop better recovery treatment for fellow survivors.
Clarke and her mum Jenny have now been appointed MBEs in the New Year Honours for services to people with brain injuries.
The actor opened up about the surgery she received from her own terrifying ordeals, which unfolded in 2011 and 2013 when she was filming for the hit HBO show.
As per the NHS, a brain aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel in your brain, caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall, and if it bursts it can cause fatal internal bleeding.
Luckily the 37-year-old actor lived to tell the tale, but it’s not come without its consequences.
Speaking on BBC’s Sunday Morning, she said: “The amount of my brain that is no longer usable – it’s remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions.
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CBS Sunday Morning
“I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.”
When asked about seeing a scan of her brain, Emilia said: “There’s quite a bit missing, which always makes me laugh.
“Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit it’s missing is therefore gone.”
Prior to this, the now MBE described the ‘excruciating pain’ she suffered as a result of the aneurysms, which caused repeated vomiting and left her trying to stay conscious and maintain her brain function.
After undergoing surgery which she previously admitted was the most pain she’s ever been through, she is now able to live her life and continue with acting.
Back in 2019, the star shared never-before-seen images of her in hospital following one of the aneurysms while speaking about the difficult road to recovery.
HBO
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the Daenerys Targaryen actor said: “The first time it was difficult, with the second one I found it much harder to stay optimistic.
“[I coped with it as a] a day to day thing. I definitely went through a period of being… down – putting it mildly.
“The second one, there was a bit of my brain that actually died. If a part of your brain doesn’t get blood to it for a minute, it will just no longer work. It’s like you short circuit. So, I had that.”
She went on to describe how her leading role in GoT may just have saved her life, adding: “You go on the set and you play a badass character, and you walk through fire, and you speak to hundreds of people, and you’re being asked to be – to work as hard as you possibly can.
“And that became the thing that just saved me from considering my own mortality.”
Using her experiences to help others alongside her mum with SameYou, Clarke told BBC News the pair of them being MBEs is ‘wicked’.
Some films are filled with blood and gore, yet some take it to another weird level.
However, one film which starred Spider-Man’s Willem Dafoe, has been described as ‘chaotic’ and ‘uncomfortable’ due to its violence, sex and gore.
It proved so controversial that it earned the ‘anti-award’ at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
One critic even called it ‘the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world’.
Zentropa Entertainments
The film, which was directed by Lars von Trier, follows a married couple whose son tragically dies in an accident.
So, in a bid to reconnect with each other and move past their grief, they head to an isolated cabin together.
But it’s from that point that things turn violently sexual – and also quite bloody too.
If you’re squeamish, this is 100 percent not the film for you. Watch the trailer here if you dare:
According to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), there are ‘strong images of real sex‘ which show ‘unsimulated penetration’ as well as ‘images of genital contact’ – leading to the film to be given an 18 rating.
However, instead of Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, body doubles were used in the intimate scenes – but for an alleged specific reason.
And that reason being that, according to von Tier, Dafoe was ‘too well endowed’.
Yes, you read that right.
In an interview, the director claimed that the actor’s penis was ‘enormous’ that it left ‘people confused’, adding: “He [Dafoe] has an enormous d**k. We had to take those scenes out of the film.
“We had a stand-in for him because we had to take the scenes out with his own d**k.”
Zentropa Entertainments
When asked to further clarify, he said: “We had to [have a stand-in d**k], because Will’s was too big.”
However, when this claim was posed to him in an interview with The Telegraph, Dafoe didn’t say a lot about it.
“I always get asked about it in interviews.” he said. “Interviewers seem obsessed with the subject.”
And in an interview with The Guardian’s Stuart Jeffries, he, according to the journalist, ‘didn’t deny’ the rumour but left to go to an audition, adding: “I don’t really work in Hollywood any more.”
But the star did confirm in an interview with Dazed Digital that the on-screen penis wasn’t his.
Zentropa Entertainments
He said: “Penis? No, it’s not mine. Lars used a porn actor for those scenes. It was a good decision because, if it was me, then that’s all that people would talk about.
“Obviously Lars wants the characters to have genitals but it would become a distraction: ‘Oh, they really had sex!’ If he had asked me to do it, I don’t know what I would have said.”
When the interview said that could have been ‘awkward’, Dafoe replied: “Well, never say never.
“But, on a practical level, Charlotte and I are both married and I’m not sure everybody would be cool with that!”
