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T
he last episode of the fifth season of
Game of Thrones
has come to a bloody,
dramatic close – no spoilers here – and
even Emilia Clarke, better known to GoT fans
as Khaleesi, Daenerys of House Targaryen and
Mother of Dragons, admits to worrying about
her character’s fate at times. “You never know
who's going to get killed!” she laughs. “It's part
of the intrigue and mystique of the series that it
surprises you and shows you what a dangerous
world she lives in. You get very caught up in
the constant sense of menace and the kind
of threatening environment that is constantly
providing audiences with all sorts of shocks.”
At 28 years old, Emilia Clarke still appears
flabbergasted by her fame. She joined the
Game of Thrones
cast a year out of drama
school, and within no time, the series was
being watched by millions per episode. Her
old life was behind her. “I hated working in a
call centre and I remember how thrilled I was
that I didn't have to do that job anymore,” she
recalls. However, being a leading actress in the
series doesn’t necessarily mean job security,
considering the producer’s willingness to kill off
main characters with abandon.
In her next starring role away from
the franchise, Clarke ditches the long
blonde wig, becoming Sarah Connor
in
Terminator Genisys
, a reboot of the
legendary franchise co-starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Jai Courtney.
"This is such an amazing project and
I'm proud to become part of the
legend that is already in place and
be able to create something new...
Every day, you're like, 'OK. It
can't get any more insane, or big,
or epic, or exciting,' and it just
does," she says. Clarke admits
that working on such a large
As Khaleesi in
Game of Thrones.
scale Hollywood production was extremely
daunting but also, of course, exciting.
“This is the kind of iconic story that
everyone grows up watching and ever since
I was a little girl I've dreamed about making
films like this,” she says. As a child, it’s unlikely
she could have imagined how gruelling such
an action-packed shoot could be: “I did a lot
of weapons training and you also need to
be strong to lift those guns,” she explains,
recalling how she trained for up to six hours a
day. “I did a lot of weightlifting and kickboxing
that got me into the best shape of my life.
I may not be as tough as my character, but
at least I felt that I could handle the physical
demands of working on the
film.”
While she’s ready for
life as an action hero,
Clarke warns that getting
ready for a round of red
carpet promotion is an
entirely different story.
“There are no captions
on red carpet photos that
say, 'This girl trained for
two weeks, she went
on a juice diet, she has
a professional hair and
makeup person, and
this dress was made
for her.' I just wish
they'd say, ‘It ain't
the truth.'"
I did a lot of
weightlifting and
kickboxing that got
me into the best
shape of my life.
Matt Smith, Jason Clarke, Emilia
Clarke and Jai Courtney in
T
erminator Genisys
Terminator Genisys
is in
cinemas on July 1
15
CINEMA
INTERVIEW