Whether she's laying waste to King's Landing or falling in love, Emilia Clarke has played
a lot of intense scenes in movies and on TV. On set, though, she seems like a genuinely
endearing person with a great sense of humor — and we've got the bloopers to prove it.
Game of Thrones presented a unique series of challenges for all of its actors. The show
wasn't exactly Full House, what with its location shooting in far-flung locales all over the
world, dense literary dialogue, and special effects-heavy sequences. Emilia Clarke, in
particular, had to continually juggle all of these elements as she portrayed Daenerys
Targaryen: a character who traveled extensively, spoke multiple languages, and soared on the
backs of fire-breathing beasts.
However, everyone is human — even the Mother of Dragons — and mistakes will be made.
For one scene, Clarke had to deliver a whole lot of dialogue in the tricky fictional language
of Dothraki, while sitting on an inanimate device that would eventually become a CGI
dragon. That's plenty for any actor to handle and Clarke, understandably, had a few rough
spots delivering her Dothraki Lines.
Of course, she didn't lose her cool and stayed in great spirits. In fact, when Clarke loosened
up and jokingly ad-libbed some dialogue, her Dothraki actually sounded pretty natural.
Emilia Clarke was born and raised in England, a country that's relatively small but rich
with a surprisingly high volume of accents. Among many others, there's a distinctive Liverpool
accent that fans of The Beatles might recognize and the crisp, classy accent favored by actors
and actresses in highbrow British television shows. That's the kind Clarke used for her
role as Daenerys, and it isn't all that different from her natural southern England accent.
But as a trained and experienced actress, she can recognize and replicate the difference
between her country's many dialects. One particular scene features actor Michiel Huisman, who
portrayed Daenerys' loyal advisor and lover Daario Naharis, approaching her with a variety
of wild flowers. In the outtake of this scene, Clarke breaks the tension and surprises everyone
with a perfect East London cockney accent.
"I'm a Khaleesi not a queen for f---s sake, mate."
Obviously, Game of Thrones doesn't take place in any real historical time period. It's a
sweeping fantasy set in a world of dragons and supernatural threats. Still, most of the
characters seem to have British accents for some reason. In a clip from the eighth season's
blooper reel, Daenerys sits down for a chat with Sansa Stark — a rare moment of quiet
and civility before another round of violence. At this point in the show's timeline, Daenerys
has taken Jon Snow as a lover and everyone thinks that he is a bastard member of the
Stark family — and Sansa's brother.
Spoiler alert: it turns out that Jon is a Targaryen, just like his Aunt Daenerys. But
that little bit of info is neither here nor there, as Clarke uses the attractiveness of
Kit Harington's Jon Snow as a jumping off point to improv in a modern, slang-laced dialect.
"I just fancy your brother loads. I think he's really, really sexy."
In all of her playful behind-the-scenes footage, as well as in her many promotional interviews,
Clarke seems like an endlessly charming and grounded person. She definitely doesn't embody
that Hollywood stereotype of the pretentious, self-absorbed, nightmare diva who can never
be pleased. But if Clarke did act like that, her behavior might not be completely unexpected.
After all, she starred on one of the biggest TV shows in history for eight seasons and
she became an international celebrity in the process.
In a hilarious montage that Clarke shot for Glamour magazine, she gives viewers a taste
of what it might have been like if she let all the fame and acclaim go to her head.
"Where's my wig? Where's my orange mocha frappuccino? Where are my kale chips?"
After more tongue-in-cheek inquiries about toilet paper, spanx, Uber and her boyfriend,
she saves the most important question for last.
"Where is my privacy? D’you know what I mean? Bye."
By 2016, Game of Thrones had been airing for five successful seasons, allowing Emilia Clarke
to spread her wings and star in major films. In Me Before You, actor Sam Claflin plays
a man named Will who is despondent after he's been paralyzed in a terrible accident. Clarke
portrays Lou, a paid companion hired to help Will and raise his spirits. It should come
as no surprise that after an awkward start, the two fall madly in love with each other.
Lou is about as far away from Daenerys as possible. Between takes, though, the set of
Me Before You had a lot in common with the set of Game of Thrones, in that Clarke's kind-hearted
wit in the face of goof-ups was on full display.
In one outtake, Clarke is supposed to be driving a car but, as we all know, cars don't work
properly if the hand brake is engaged. That's what seems to be happening with this particular
vehicle and it immediately throws Clarke off her game until a crew member comes to the
rescue.
"Did you put my handbrake on? (inaudible) Thank you. It's a really good start."
Emilia Clarke might always be most associated with her breakthrough role of Daenerys Stormborn
of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass
Sea, Mother of Dragons and so forth. So many titles carry with them so much class and dignity.
But, at her core, Daenerys is just another person, and so is Clarke, possessing a regular
human body that may make embarrassing sounds from time to time.
It's unclear if an audible eruption on the set of Me Before You actually came from Clarke,
or if it was the result of a squeaky couch cushion or some piece of malfunctioning movie-making
equipment. But the tell-tale sound of a massive gas leak definitely emanated from Clarke's
general direction. Somehow, her co-star, Sam Claflin, doesn't immediately laugh and keeps
it together for a few seconds until he finally cracks up alongside Clarke.
So, in the end, it seems that Daenerys never fulfilled her ambition of breaking the wheel
— but Clarke clearly made her mark by breaking wind.
“Stinks like death. Don't think I can't smell it."
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