Emilia Clarke’s Career From ‘Game Of Thrones’ To Marvel

Emilia Clarke is only in her mid-thirties, and yet she has already played countless unforgettable characters. She has been acting since she was just a child, but the breakthrough that made her the star that she is today was the role of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. Since then, she has been proving her talents with incredible performances in all platforms and formats, and it has most recently been announced that she will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But what has she done since she became a huge star? Game of Thrones aired for many years, so in-between seasons, she was enriching her career in other ways. Here are the highlights of Emilia Clarke’s career, from her beginnings in GoT to her upcoming Marvel debut.

7 Emilia Clarke’s Time On Broadway

Shortly after she joined Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke was cast as Holly Golightly in the 2013 Broadway production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It’s no small task to play the role that belonged to none other than the great Audrey Hepburn, but she approached it with grace and managed to make it her own while at the same time respecting the original performance. It was different from anything Emilia had ever done, but while she was daunted in the face of the challenge, she was mainly excited about trying something new. She loved the character and the production, and despite all the difficulties, it ended up being a great experience.

6 Emilia Clarke’s Work In ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’

In 2016, Emilia scored the female lead in the Han Solo movie Solo: A Star Wars Story. She was delighted to be a part of Star Wars history and was very proud of her character, Qi’ra, who she defines as a very strong and brave warrior.

“I am never going to take a job that doesn’t tell that story (of strong, independent women), because I think it’s a very important narrative that we are telling all ages at all stages,” she explained. “And whilst it is Han Solo’s movie, this girl gets to be badass. And strong. And has her own journey. Qi’ra’s journey is definitely one of survival and strength. The way that I felt about her was yeah this girl has got a core of steel.”

5 Emilia Clarke Was Almost In ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’

Clearly, Emilia Clarke has reached a point in her career where she can afford to turn down roles that she’s not fully sold on, even if they seem like they will be a huge success. This was the case when she was offered the lead role in Fifty Shades of Grey. The reason she turned down the role of Anastasia Steele was that she didn’t feel comfortable with all the nudity, a more than understandable reason. She said she had done nudity before and she hadn’t liked the results, so she didn’t want to expose herself in that way again. Dakota Johnson took over the role and did a great job, so everything turned out alright.

4 Emilia Clarke’s Experience With ‘Terminator Genisys’

Terminator Genisys didn’t do very well, neither commercially nor critically. And according to Emilia Clarke, who played Sarah Connor, it wasn’t even fun to make.

She admitted that she was relieved when the movie flopped, because that meant there wouldn’t be a sequel and she wouldn’t have to go through the process again. The director was Alan Taylor, someone Emilia knew from Game of Thrones, and apparently he wasn’t able to produce the same quality content for the Terminator franchise.

“He was not the director I remember,” Emilia said. “He didn’t have a good time. No one had a good time.”

3 Emilia Clarke Starred In ‘Me Before You’

A movie that really stands out in her career after Game of Thrones is Me Before You. Emilia co-starred in this movie alongside Sam Claflin. The movie was based on Jojo Moyes’ novel by the same name, and while it received mixed reviews from critics, it was a worldwide commercial success. One of the many reasons Emilia liked doing the movie was because of how it helped people understand better how to deal with certain disabilities.

“It was a real eye opener in general just for how you see disabilities I think. And how you think people want to be treated and how they really want to be treated and what they really talk about, and what they really care about which is very … There’s a lot more comedy, there’s a lot more lightness to be found in people then I think you would assume.”

2 Emilia Clarke’s Role In ‘Last Christmas’

In late 2019, Emilia Clarke joined the cast of Last Christmas, a romantic comedy that was written by Emma Thompson and directed by Paul Feig. She starred alongside Henry Golding, and the movie is meant to be a tribute to the late George Michael, since it’s based on the title of a song by Wham!

Emilia played Kate, a woman who owns a Christmas shop in London, but what she really wants is to be a singer. She then meets Henry’s character, Tom, and her life changes. While the movie didn’t do very well critically, her performance received a lot of praise.

1 Emilia Clarke Starred In ‘The Seagull’

In early 2020, Emilia got the lead role of Nina in the West End production of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. It was her first West End production, and she was very excited, but sadly, due to the pandemic, the show couldn’t continue as planned. She got to do some previews at the Playhouse Theatre in March, but they were interrupted in just a few days. Hopefully, they will pick up at some point. Until then, Emilia is working on many new projects that fans will be able to enjoy soon, including the upcoming Marvel series, Secret Invasion, which is set to premiere in 2022.