DRAGON NEWS

Emilia Clarke Says Game of Thrones Taught Her About Feminism

“You can’t hide anymore.”


Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke Says Playing Daenerys Made Her More of a Feminist
HBO

While Game of Thrones‘s Daenerys Targaryen has undoubtedly inspired innumerable women all over the world to embrace their inner queens, she’s undoubtedly had her most profound impact on one woman in particular: Emilia Clarke, Khaleesi‘s IRL alter ego. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Clarke explained how playing Dany onscreen for the past seven years has taught her more about female empowerment and practically forced her to embrace her feminism.

“It’s given me a real insight into what it feels like to be a woman who stands up to inequality and hate,” she said. “And as [Daenerys] has become more empowered as a woman, you can’t hide any more. You are adding to the voices that are going to make people realize an equal society is what we’re aiming for.” Clarke shared that, because she grew up with her mother as the primary breadwinner in her household, seeing women in positions of power has always been the norm for her. “That’s the lens through which I’ve been fortunate enough to view the world,” she said. “It’s only when you go to school that you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s different, that’s weird.'”

As intertwined as Dany and Clarke have become over the past several years (blonde hair included), however, the British actress revealed that she has no idea how Dany’s story ends in the show’s final season, set to premiere sometime in 2019. “They’ve written a number of different endings, so none of the cast know what the actual ending is. If there’s ever a leak of any kind, don’t believe it, because it’s probably not true,” she said. “We have a very strict social media ban this year because people need to stop spoiling it for everyone. It’s really frustrating.”

Clarke’s GoT costars have also spoken about the upcoming ending of the hit fantasy series. In October, her onscreen love interest-slash-nephew Kit Harington revealed that a table read of the final episode had brought him to tears. “We had a read through last week in fact, so I know everything now,” he told BBC’s The One Show at the time. “I cried at the end. You have to remember that eight years of it—no one really cares about it more than us.”

Related: Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke’s Style Is More Fairytale Princess Than Mother of Dragons

Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke’s Style Is More Fairytale Princess Than Mother of Dragons

Emilia Clarke arrives at the 12th Annual AFI Awards held at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on January 13, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California.

Kevin Winter

Emilia Clarke attends the Closing Ceremony and The Golden Nymph Awards at the Grimaldi Forum on June 10, 2011 in Monaco, Monaco.

Tony Barson

Emilia Clarke arrives at Entertainment Weekly’s Comic-Con celebration at Float at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego on July 14, 2012 in San Diego, California.

Chelsea Lauren

Emilia Clarke attends the BAFTA Los Angeles TV Tea 2012 Presented By BBC America at The London Hotel on September 22, 2012 in West Hollywood, California.

JB Lacroix

Emilia Clarke arrives at the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on September 23, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

Frazer Harrison

Emilia Clarke arrives at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

Dan MacMedan

Emilia Clarke attends the Altuzarra fall 2013 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Skylight Studio on February 9, 2013 in New York City.

Mike Coppola

Emilia Clarke attends the 2013 Actors Fund Gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on April 29, 2013 in New York City.

Gary Gershoff

Emilia Clarke attends the Costume Institute Gala for the “PUNK: Chaos to Couture” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2013 in New York City.

Kevin Mazur

Emilia Clarke arrives to HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” Los Angeles Premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 18, 2013 in Hollywood, California.

Jeff Kravitz

Emilia Clarke arrives at the “Dom Hemingway” Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 8, 2013 in Toronto, Canada.

Jonathan Leibson

Emilia Clarke arrives at Louis Vuitton “Series 2” The Exhibition on February 5, 2015 in Hollywood, California.

Valerie Macon

Emilia Clarke attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.

Jason Merritt

Emilia Clarke attends HBO’s “Game of Thrones” Season 5 Premiere and After Party at the San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015 in San Francisco, California.

Jeff Kravitz

Emilia Clarke attends the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Frazer Harrison

Emilia Clarke arrives at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on January 18, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.

Dan MacMedan

Emilia Clarke attends the Chanel and Charles Finch Pre-Oscar Dinner at Madeo Restaurant on March 1, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.

Frazer Harrison

Emilia Clarke attends the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California.

David Livingston

Emilia Clarke attends the “Game Of Thrones” Season 4 New York premiere at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center on March 18, 2014 in New York City.

Jamie McCarthy

Emilia Clarke attends premiere of Paramount Pictures’ “Terminator Genisys” at Dolby Theatre on June 28, 2015 in Hollywood, California.

Lester Cohen

Emilia Clarke attends the GQ Men of the Year Awards at The Royal Opera House on September 8, 2015 in London, England.

Mark Cuthbert

Emilia Clarke attends the European Premiere of ‘Terminator: Genisys’ at the CineStar Sony Center on June 21, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.

Franziska Krug

Emilia Clarke attends HBO’s post 2016 Golden Globe Awards party at Circa 55 Restaurant on January 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.

C Flanigan

Emilia Clarke attends the Lancome BAFTA nominees party at Kensington Palace on February 13, 2016 in London, England.

Karwai Tang

Emilia Clarke attends the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 10, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California.

John Shearer

Emilia Clarke arrives at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California.

Jon Kopaloff

Emilia Clarke attends the The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 30, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.

Larry Busacca

Emilia Clarke attends “Me Before You” World Premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on May 23, 2016 in New York City.

Dimitrios Kambouris

Emilia Clarke attends the European film premiere “Me Before You” at The Curzon Mayfair on May 25, 2016 in London, England.

Jeff Spicer

Emilia Clarke arrives at the premiere of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6 at the TCL Chinese Theatre on April 10, 2016 in Hollywood, California.

Jeffrey Mayer
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