The actress who gave life to the memorable "Daenerys Targaryen" character: Who is Emilia Clarke?

Her full name is Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke, she was born on October 23, 1986 in London, England. She was born to Peter Clarke, to her father, a theater sound engineer, and to her Indian mother, a business woman, and Jennifer, vice president of marketing at a firm as of 2020. Growing up in Oxfordshire, Clarke has an older brother, Bennett, who works in the entertainment industry and camera department.

Beginning an interest in acting at the age of three, Clarke auditioned with her father in the West End for "The Goodbye Girl," a musical by Neil Simon, at the age of ten. Clarke was educated first at Rye St Antony School in Headington and later at St Edward's School in Oxford. After graduating, she applied to many drama schools, but all failed. Among them; there is the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Clarke began acting in stage productions while attending school, and took part in student productions of the romantic comedy "Twelfth Night" and "West Side Story", a musical designed from a book. After spending a year she was accepted into the London Drama Centre. Clarke, who had great financial difficulties during her student years, worked at 6 different jobs to pay her rent. She also appeared in the 2009 production of "Sense", which was co-produced by the theater company Company of Angels and Drama Center London.

One of her first movie roles came in the student short film "Drop the Dog". Clarke graduated from Drama Center London in 2009 and auditioned for various non-acting jobs. She has appeared in two commercials for the "Samaritans" charity she. Her first obvious television role was when she had a small part in an episode of the British medical soap opera "Doctors" in 2009. The following year, Clarke played her first professional film role as Savannah in the television movie "Triassic Attack." The film, which premiered on Syfy in the United States in November 2010, garnered negative reviews. Despite this, Screen International film magazine named Clarke the "UK Star of Tomorrow".

Later that year, she got her third professional role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy drama TV series "Game of Thrones," based on the fantasy book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin. Clarke was critically acclaimed and praised for her portrayal of her character tracing the transition from a frightened girl to a strong woman. Additionally, she won the Best Supporting Actress Award in a Drama at the 2011 EWwy Awards. The series, which reached a large fan base, received praise from critics for its acting, characters, story and production in general. In addition, she was also criticized for her scenes of nudity and violence. In 2017, she was estimated to be one of the highest-paid actors on television, with the pay she earned for each episode of the series.

Clarke played the same character for eight seasons as the series ran from April 2011 to May 2019. Clarke earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013, 2015, and 2016. In 2019, she was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards. The series has won multiple awards in various categories during its run, including 59 Emmy Awards, eight Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Peabody Award. The series also holds the record for winning total Emmy Awards for a scripted television series. The show's final season in 2019 set a new record for Emmy Award nominations in one year, with 32. Additionally, the series listed it as the 40th best-written drama in television history and topped the lists of many magazines. In addition to the television series, her voice and likeness were used in the 2014 video game of the same name, "Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series."

Clarke's first movie role came in the short drama-thriller "Shackled" (2012). That same year, she starred with Elliott Tittensor in the comedy film "Spike Island" directed by Mat Whitecross. From March to April 2013, she played Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," a Broadway production by Richard Greenberg at the Cort Theatre. For this role, she required her to play a nude scene. The production garnered mixed reviews from critics, along with Clarke's performance. Later that year, she starred in "Dom Hemingway," a black comedy-crime drama film written and directed by Richard Shepard and co-starring with Jude Law. She later voiced in the animated science fiction sitcom "Futurama."

In May 2013, Clarke starred in "The Garden of Last Days," a film adaptation of a novel. That same year, she appeared as Sarah Connor in the science fiction action movie "Terminator Genisys" (2015), a reboot of the franchise directed by Alan Taylor. Clarke starred in the film alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, and Jason Clarke. The film garnered negative reviews from critics, with a worldwide box office success of over $440 million in commercial gains. Her performance earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for Best International Actress - Best Summer Movie Star at the 2016 Jupiter Awards.

In 2016, she appeared as the female lead in the film adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name, "Me Before You", directed by Thea Sharrocuk and co-starring with Sam Claflin. The movie, which was released on June 3, 2016, garnered mixed reviews. Despite this, it was a box office success, grossing $200 million worldwide against a production budget of $20 million. The two lead actors earned nominations for the Teen Choice Award for Best Picture Liplock and the MTV Television Tearjerker Award. In 2017, she appeared alongside Marton Csokas as Nurse Verena in "Voice from the Stone," a supernatural psychological thriller based on the novel of the same name and directed by Eric D. Howell. The film was released with a limited theatrical release in April 2017, followed by video and digital HD releases. The film was met with mixed and average reviews from critics.

In November 2016, she was cast as the female lead in the space western movie "Solo: A Star Wars Story" directed by Ron Howard, with Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover, Thandiwe Newton, and Paul Bettany. Released in May 2018, the movie detailed the origins of Star Wars characters Han Solo and Chewbacca. Released on May 25, 2018, the movie was able to garner positive reviews despite being the first 'Star Wars' movie to be a box office bomb. Clarke, who was also praised for her performance, was described by many critics as one of the highlights of the film.

In 2016, Clarke co-starred with Jack Huston in the crime thriller "Above Suspicion" (2019), based on the non-fiction book of the same name and directed by Phillip Noyce. Upon its release, the film received generally positive reviews and Clarke's performance was praised by critics. In late 2019, she co-starred with Henry Golding in the romantic comedy movie "Last Christmas" directed by Paul Feig. Upon its release, the film received praise for the performance and cohesion of the leading roles. However, she was criticized for her story. It was successful at the box office with the revenue it received in return for the production budget.

On March 11, 2020, she appeared as Nina in Anton Chekhov's West End production of "The Seagull", which premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd. The game was paused on March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it Clarke's first West End production. Restarting two years later in July 2022, the play was broadcast internationally via National Theater Live. The following year, Clarke shared the first of her comic book series "M.O.M.: Mother of Madness," which she co-wrote with Marguerite Bennett.

In 2020, Clarke voiced as Malicia in "The Amazing Maurice," an animated fantasy comedy movie directed by Toby Genkel and based on a children's fantasy novel of the same name. The film, which was released in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2022 and in the United States on February 3, 2023, received generally positive reviews from critics. In January 2023, Clarke starred and executive produced the sci-fi romantic comedy film "The Pod Generation" written and directed by Sophie Barthes. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, received mixed to average reviews from critics.

In January 2017, Clarke was cast as the lead role in the English adaptation of the Korean romantic comedy film "The Beauty Inside" (2015). The production of the movie has just begun. In May 2019, it was rumored that Clarke would play the English poet Elizabeth Barrett in Björn Runge's film "Let Me Count the Ways" to be directed.

In April 2021, Clarke was cast in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe TV mini-series "Secret Invasion" for Disney+. The series is scheduled to begin on June 21, 2023. In October 2021, Clarke was selected to play the role of Jean Kerr, Joseph McCarthy's wife, in the biopic "McCarthy." The following year, it was reported that Clarke would play Irish writer Constance Lloyd in director Sophie Hyde's film "An Ideal Wife."

Personal life

In 2012, she started a relationship with actor and singer Seth MacFarlane, and Clarke announced that they were ending the relationship, saying it was a very difficult situation to be with a famous person. Clarke currently resides in the London Borough of Islington and is a total animal lover. In addition to the "Dothraki" language she speaks in the TV series "Game Of Thrones", she speaks 4 more languages: English, French, Hindi and German.

In an article she wrote in 2019, Clarke explained that she had a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by rupture of an aneurysm in February 2011. She was speechless after undergoing surgery and at some point unable to remember her own name. Later, she was surgically treated for a second aneurysm in 2013. Later, she founded her own charity called "SameYou". The institution aims to expand the reach of neurorehabilitation for young people who have suffered a brain injury or stroke. After the final season of "Game of Thrones" ended, a fundraising event called "Justice for Daenerys" was launched and fans of the series raised money for Clarke's charity. The goal, according to the creator of the fundraiser, was to show their collective appreciation for both Clarke and the character of Daenerys Targaryen. In 2020, Clarke was crowned with the Public Leadership in Neurology Award by the American Brain Foundation for her efforts to raise awareness about this disease.

In 2011, she won the EWwy Award for "best supporting actress" by Entertainment Weekly magazine. Clarke was named "the most desirable woman in the world" by readers of the AskMen web portal in 2014. In 2015, she was named "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire magazine. Also in the same year, she was honored with GQ magazine's "Woman of the Year Award". Clarke was listed on FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Also in 2017, she was added to Glamor magazine's "Best Dressed Women" list.

After filming for the final season of Game of Thrones wrapped, Clarke celebrated her time on the show with a tattoo of three flying dragons on her wrist as a tribute to her role. Besides acting, Clarke sings and can play the piano, flute and guitar.

In 2015, Clarke became the face of luxury goods company Dior's "Rose des Vents" jewelery collection. In 2018, luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana announced that Clarke will become a brand ambassador for "The Only One" fragrance. For the perfume, she also appeared before the camera in a commercial directed by Matteo Garrone. Luxury cosmetics company Clinique announced Clarke as its first global ambassador in early 2020.

Clarke gave her support to various charities and organizations financially and morally, time and effort. In 2017, she became the patron of "Open Door," a nonprofit that aims to help teens audition for drama school. She supported the 2018 Sean Penn Charity Gala by auctioning off a chance to watch an episode of Game of Thrones with her, which raised over $120,000 to benefit J/P HRO & Disaster Relief Organizations.

In April 2018, she was announced as the sole ambassador of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). Clarke also pledged to join nurses and healthcare professionals in tackling issues affecting the profession. Additionally, she was one of the actresses who gave voice to the "Time's Up" initiative, which aims to expose sexual harassment and harassment and create a society free of gender-based discrimination in the workplace. In August 2018, Clarke co-starred with Gemma Arterton, Lena Headey, Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Wunmi Mosaku, Florence Pugh, Gemma Chan and Catherine Tate in the short film "Leading Lady Parts" about the gender inequality in the film industry's casting.