Game of Thrones actor Emilia Clarke: My father’s death and Brexit happening in quick succession threw me off balance

Emilia Clarke, popular for playing the role of Daenerys Targaryen in the popular TV series Game of Thrones, says the death of her father and Brexit really devastated her and made her realise a number of things about how she was faring with life. She also adds that her character has managed to make her proud even though she can sense sexism in the industry.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | June 30, 2017 12:57 PM IST

3 min read

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Emilia Clarke on her father’s death and Brexit.

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke talks about how she felt afraid after her father passed away from cancer last year. The 30-year-old actor said she was left searching for answers following her father’s demise and also after Brexit, reported Rolling Stone magazine. “The world felt like a scarier place once my dad wasn’t in it. And then those two things happening in quick succession threw me off balance and made me re-evaluate who I am. And it was in that re-evaluation that I was like, ‘I’m a woman, and there aren’t very many of us performing in the environment that I’m performing in,” Clarke said. She adds that 2016 has been one of the worst years for her.

Clarke also shared her views on how one day she realised that women were still being discriminated in the industry. “I feel so naive for saying it, but it’s like dealing with racism,” she told Rolling Stone magazine. “You’re aware of it, and you’re aware of it, but one day, you go, ‘Oh, my God, it’s everywhere!’ Like you suddenly wake up to it and you go, ‘Wait a second, are you . . . are you treating me different? Is that actually happening?’ It took me a really long time to see that I do get treated differently. But I look around, and that’s my daily life.” She points out how women have to arrive hours before for hair and makeup as compared to their male counterparts.

When she is asked what she has to say about her character in Game Of Thrones and her stance as a feminist, she adds, “It doesn’t stop me from being a feminist, like, guess what? Yes, I’ve got mascara on, and I also have a high IQ, so those two things can be one and the same. Women have been great rulers. And then for that to be a character that I’m known to play? That’s so lucky. Anyone who seems to think that it’s not needed need only look at the political environment we’re all living in to be like, ‘Oh, no, it’s needed. It is needed.’ ” Emilia is also proud about the evolution of her character, Daenerys has been a woman who was oppressed most of her life but has lived on to be the ‘Mother of Dragons’ and actually win the Game of Thrones.

(with inputs from PTI)

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