Emilia Clarke
Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke MBE (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which she received nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. She is also known for her role in the Star Wars film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and the romantic dramas Me Before You (2016) and Last Christmas (2019).
Emilia Clarke
Actress
2009–present
Clarke studied at Drama Centre London, appearing in a number of stage productions. Her television debut was a guest appearance in the BBC One medical soap opera Doctors in 2009, at age 22. Clarke made her Broadway debut as Holly Golightly in the 2013 play Breakfast at Tiffany's, and played Nina in a West End production of The Seagull that was suspended due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Her film roles include Sarah Connor in the science fiction film Terminator Genisys (2015), Qi'ra in the Star Wars film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and the romance films Me Before You (2016) and Last Christmas (2019). She starred as G'iah in the Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries Secret Invasion (2023).
Career[edit]
2000–2010: Beginnings[edit]
Clarke started to act in stage productions while attending school. She appeared in student productions of Twelfth Night and West Side Story while attending St Edward's School.[17] After taking a sabbatical year, she was accepted into Drama Centre London.[1] Clarke also appeared the 2009 production of Sense, co-produced by theatre company Company of Angels and Drama Centre London.[18]
One of her first film roles was in Drop the Dog, a University of London student short film.[19] She graduated from drama school in 2009.[20] She worked at various non-acting jobs after graduating while auditioning for roles.[21] She starred in two commercials for the charity Samaritans, portraying a domestic abuse victim.[22] Her first credited television role was a bit part in a 2009 episode of the British soap opera Doctors.[23] Clarke was cast in her first professional film role, playing Savannah in the 2010 television film Triassic Attack.[24] The film was released in November 2010 on the Syfy channel in the United States where it received negative reviews.[25] Despite the film's reviews, she was named a "UK Star of Tomorrow" by the film magazine Screen International.[26]
Other ventures[edit]
Advertising and endorsements[edit]
In 2015, luxury goods company Dior signed Clarke to be the face of the Rose des Vents jewellery collection.[98] In 2018, Dolce & Gabbana announced she would be the brand ambassador for the fragrance "The Only One".[99] She starred in an advertisement, which was directed by Matteo Garrone for the perfume.[100] Cosmetics company Clinique announced Clarke as their first global ambassador in early 2020.[101]
Philanthropy[edit]
Clarke has lent her support to various charitable organisations. In September 2011, she joined the SMA UK Trust Team as their celebrity ambassador.[102] The SMA Trust raises funds for research into spinal muscular atrophy.[103] In August 2017, she became a patron of Open Door, a nonprofit that aims to help young people gain access to drama school auditions.[104] She auctioned a chance to watch an episode of Game of Thrones with her at the 2018 Sean Penn Charity Gala, which raised over $120,000 benefiting the J/P HRO & Disaster Relief Organizations.[105] In February 2018, she introduced the award recipients at London's Centrepoint Awards, which celebrates the courage shown by homeless young people.[106]
In April 2018, she was named the sole ambassador to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). As the RCN's ambassador, Clarke pledged to use her voice to fight for greater investment in nursing and to challenge misconceptions. Clarke also pledged to join nurses and healthcare workers to tackle the issues affecting the profession, including a falling number in training and shortages in the current workforce.[107]
Clarke was also one of the numerous UK-based actresses to lend her voice to the Time's Up initiative, aimed at exposing sexual harassment and abuse, and creating a society free of gender-based discrimination in the workplace.[108] In August 2018, Clarke, as well as Gemma Arterton, Lena Headey, Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Wunmi Mosaku, Florence Pugh, Gemma Chan, and Catherine Tate, featured in the short film titled Leading Lady Parts which took aim at the film industry's issue of gender inequality during the casting process.[109]
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.[110] On 26 September 2019, she co-hosted a YouTube live stream with Irish YouTuber Jacksepticeye that raised over £200,000 for SameYou.[111] 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.[112] According to the fundraiser creator, the purpose was to collectively show their appreciation for both Clarke and the character of Daenerys Targaryen.[113] 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.[114][115] In the 2024 New Year Honours, Clarke and her mother, Jennifer Clarke, were both made Members of the Order of the British Empire in the civil division (MBE) for their role in the creation of SameYou.[116][117][118] She was invested with the Insignia on 21 February 2024 at Windsor Castle by HRH Prince of Wales.[119][120]
In April 2020, Clarke began a fundraiser to help raise funds for her charity's COVID-19 fund.[121] The fundraiser, which aimed to raise £250,000, would support both the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and the University College Hospital in London. The organisation's new initiative aims to make a larger portion of beds available to coronavirus patients by providing a virtual rehabilitation clinic for people recovering from brain injuries and strokes.[122] In a further response to the coronavirus pandemic, Clarke announced the launch of an Instagram series of poetry readings. The readings derive from a collection called The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul. She began the series by reading a poem about loneliness, which she dedicated to her charity SameYou and announced that other performers would be joining the initiative, stating that every performer would dedicate their reading to a charity of their choosing.[123]
In September 2020, she joined Emma Thompson, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Robert Lindsay in a virtual reading of the play Private Lives by English playwright Noël Coward. It was announced that all funds raised from the performance would be used as a crisis grant to support those in the theatre industry who were struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[124]
Personal life and public image[edit]
Clarke lives in the London Borough of Islington.[14] She also owned a house in the Venice Beach neighbourhood of Los Angeles, which she purchased in 2016 and sold in December 2020.[125][126]
In a 2013 interview with Allure, Clarke stated that her mother had rules when she was growing up: "Don't do drugs, don't have sex, and don't touch your eyebrows." She stated that she was bullied as a child for "having ridiculous eyebrows".[127]
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 own name. She had a second aneurysm surgically treated in 2013.[1]
Clarke was voted the most desirable woman in the world by AskMen readers in 2014.[128] In 2015, she was named Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive and was also recognised with the GQ Woman of the Year Award.[129] Clarke appeared on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2015, 2016, and 2017.[130][131][132] She was also included on Glamour's list of Best Dressed Women in 2017.[133]
Once filming wrapped on the final season of Game of Thrones, Clarke, as a tribute to her role as Daenerys Targaryen, celebrated her time on the show with a wrist tattoo featuring a trio of flying dragons.[134]