Emilia Clarke
Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke was born on the 23rd of October 1986 in London. She grew up in Oxfordshire with a father named Peter Roderick "Rick" Clarke who worked as a theatre sound engineer from Wolverhampton. Her mother Jennifer Susan Dodd Clarke served as vice-president for marketing at a global management consultancy firm and directed The Anima Foundation charity. This family background included partial Indian descent through her maternal grandmother who was born to Clarke's great-grandmother and a man from British India. Clarke credits this heritage for her family having a history of fighters who had to hide their skin colour to fit in with everyone else.
She became interested in acting at age three after seeing a production of the musical Show Boat. When she was ten, her father took her to a West End audition for The Goodbye Girl. Clarke attended St Edward's School in Oxford where she left in 2005 after privately educated years at both Rye St Antony School and that institution. In a 2016 interview with Time Out she stated that she went to posh boarding schools but was not the posh girl among them. Most people at her school came from Conservative backgrounds which meant she and some friends often felt like outsiders.
After graduation Clarke unsuccessfully applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She worked and travelled before enrolling at Drama Centre London where she graduated in 2009. One of her first film roles appeared in Drop the Dog a University of London student short film. Her first credited television role arrived as a bit part in a 2009 episode of the British soap opera Doctors.
Clarke was cast in her third professional role in 2010 as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. It is based on the fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. Actress Tamzin Merchant was originally cast for the part of Daenerys when the pilot episode was re-shot in early 2010. Merchant was replaced by Clarke who portrayed Daenerys throughout all eight seasons running from April 2011 until May 2019.
Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe called her scenes mesmerising while noting that Clarke did not have a lot of emotional variety to work with aside from fierce determination yet remained riveting. Emily St. James for The A.V. Club concluded that Clarke was able to more than seal the deal adapting such an evolution from page to screen. In 2017 she reportedly became one of the highest-paid actors on television earning between £1.2 and £2 million per episode of Game of Thrones.
She received multiple award nominations including three times for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013, 2015, and 2016. At the 2019 Emmys she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series her first nomination in that category. Clarke said by being cast as Daenerys she had avoided the typical bonnet duty that young British actresses must go through.
In 2013 Clarke was cast as Sarah Connor in the science fiction action film Terminator Genisys which also stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jai Courtney. The film received unfavourable reviews from critics but was a box office success grossing over $440 million worldwide. She was nominated for Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie Star , Female and Best International Actress at the 2016 Jupiter Awards for her performance.
Clarke starred as the female lead opposite Sam Claflin in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel Me Before You released on the 3rd of June 2016. The film received mixed critical reviews yet achieved worldwide revenues of $200 million. For her role as Louisa "Lou" Clark she shared nominations with Sam Claflin for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock and the MTV Television Tearjerker Award.
She was cast as the female lead in Solo: A Star Wars Story in November 2016 directed by Ron Howard. The movie premiered in May 2018 detailing the origins of Star Wars characters Han Solo and Chewbacca. Clarke played Qi'ra Han's childhood friend and love interest receiving positive critical reviews despite being the second-lowest grossing Star Wars film. In late 2019 she starred opposite Henry Golding in the romantic comedy Last Christmas which became a box office success grossing over $121 million worldwide.
In an essay she wrote for The New Yorker in 2019 Clarke revealed that she had suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm in February 2011. She underwent urgent endovascular coiling surgery and subsequently suffered from aphasia at one point being unable to say her name. She had a second aneurysm surgically treated in 2013.
Once filming wrapped on the final season of Game of Thrones Clarke celebrated her time on the show with a wrist tattoo featuring a trio of flying dragons as a tribute to her role as Daenerys Targaryen. Her father died in 2016 due to cancer after being an important figure in her life who told her never trust anyone whose TV is bigger than their bookshelf. From 2012 to 2013 Clarke was in a relationship with Seth MacFarlane before dating Charlie McDowell from 2018 to 2019.
Clarke lived in the London Borough of Islington and owned a house in the Venice Beach neighbourhood of Los Angeles which she purchased in 2016 and sold in December 2020. In a 2013 interview with Allure she stated that her mother had rules when she was growing up including don't do drugs don't have sex and don't touch your eyebrows.
In 2019 upon revealing the brain aneurysms she suffered in 2011 and 2013 Clarke launched her own charity named SameYou. The organisation aims to broaden neurorehabilitation access for young people after a brain injury or stroke. On the 26th of September 2019 she co-hosted a YouTube live stream with Irish YouTuber Jacksepticeye that raised over £200,000 for SameYou.
After the conclusion of the final season of Game of Thrones a fundraiser called Justice for Daenerys was started in which fans of the series raised over £83,000 for her charity. According to the fundraiser creator the purpose was to collectively show their appreciation for both Clarke and the character of Daenerys Targaryen. In 2020 Clarke was presented with the Public Leadership in Neurology award by the American Brain Foundation for her efforts in raising awareness about neurorehabilitation.
In the 2024 New Year Honours Clarke and her mother Jennifer Susan Dodd Clarke were both made Members of the Order of the British Empire in the civil division for their role in the creation of SameYou. She was invested with the Insignia on the 21st of February 2024 at Windsor Castle by the Prince of Wales.
From March to April 2013 Clarke played Holly Golightly in a Broadway production of Breakfast at Tiffany's a role requiring her to perform a nude scene. The production along with her performance received mixed reviews from critics. Later that year she also starred in the black comedy-crime drama film Dom Hemingway alongside Jude Law.
She joined Emma Thompson Sanjeev Bhaskar and Robert Lindsay in a virtual reading of the play Private Lives by English playwright Noël Coward in September 2020. All funds raised from the performance were used as a crisis grant to support those in the theatre industry who were struggling financially as a result of the pandemic.
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Common questions
When was Emilia Clarke born and where did she grow up?
Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke was born on the 23rd of October 1986 in London. She grew up in Oxfordshire with a father named Peter Roderick Clarke who worked as a theatre sound engineer from Wolverhampton.
What role did Emilia Clarke play in Game of Thrones and how long did it run?
Emilia Clarke portrayed Daenerys Targaryen throughout all eight seasons running from April 2011 until May 2019. She was cast in her third professional role in 2010 after actress Tamzin Merchant was replaced during the re-shoot of the pilot episode.
What health issues did Emilia Clarke face in 2011 and 2013?
Emilia Clarke suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm in February 2011 which required urgent endovascular coiling surgery. She had a second aneurysm surgically treated in 2013 and subsequently suffered from aphasia at one point being unable to say her name.
When did Emilia Clarke launch SameYou charity and what is its purpose?
In 2019 upon revealing the brain aneurysms she suffered in 2011 and 2013 Clarke launched her own charity named SameYou. The organisation aims to broaden neurorehabilitation access for young people after a brain injury or stroke.
When were Emilia Clarke and her mother made Members of the Order of the British Empire?
In the 2024 New Year Honours Clarke and her mother Jennifer Susan Dodd Clarke were both made Members of the Order of the British Empire in the civil division for their role in the creation of SameYou. She was invested with the Insignia on the 21st of February 2024 at Windsor Castle by the Prince of Wales.