Exploring Emilia Clarke’s Age During Game of Thrones Season 1: A Look Back at Her Early Career

Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates from Your Next Shoes. This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure for more details.

Many have fallen in love with Game of Thrones for its storyline (and, we won’t deny, the blunt TV violence) over the years. Emilia Clarke was catapulted to the forefront of our radars throughout the rise of the fantasy show.

Emilia Clarke wears her hair down at the Harvey Weinstein Pre-BAFTAs DinnerEmilia Clarke wears her hair down at the Harvey Weinstein Pre-BAFTAs Dinner held on February 12, 2016, at the Little House in Mayfair, London (Credit: WENN)

While many other actors were killed off throughout the journey to move the storyline forward, Emilia remained a stable center of the show’s cast.

Early Beginnings: Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones

She first appeared in the series premiere “Winter Is Coming,” which aired on April 17, 2011, when Emilia Clarke was 24. Born on October 23, 1986, in London, United Kingdom, she turned 25 on October 23, 2011.

Emilia Clarke in a baby blue Valentino dress at the Game of Thrones Season 8 premiereEmilia Clarke in a baby blue Valentino dress at the Game of Thrones Season 8 premiere on April 3, 2019, in New York City (Credit: Lev Radin / Shutterstock)

Casting Emilia Clarke: The Perfect Daenerys Targaryen

“Emilia was the only person we saw—and we saw hundreds—who could carry the full range that Daenerys required,” the show’s creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff told Vanity Fair about the casting of Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, the daughter of King Aerys II Targaryen.

“Young actors aren’t often asked to play a combination of Joan of Arc, Lawrence of Arabia, and Napoleon.”

Emilia Clarke had her breakthrough role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO epic fantasy television series Game of ThronesEmilia Clarke had her breakthrough role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO epic fantasy television series Game of Thrones (Credit: HBO)

Challenges on Set: Emilia Clarke’s Perspective on Nudity in Game of Thrones

Speaking on actor Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, the wealthy English actress revealed that some of the nude scenes in Game Of Thrones made her uncomfortable.

“I took the job and then they sent me the scripts and I was reading them, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s the catch!’”

“But I’d come fresh from drama school and I approached it as a job: if it’s in the script then it’s clearly needed. This is what this is and I’m going to make sense of it and that’s what I’m going to do and everything’s going to be cool.”

Emilia Clarke in a blue Victoria Beckham dress at the premiere party for the third season of her hit show Game of ThronesEmilia Clarke in a blue Victoria Beckham dress at the premiere party for the third season of her hit show Game of Thrones held at the TCL Chinese Theatre on March 18, 2013, in Hollywood (Credit: Nikki Nelson / WENN)

“I’ve never been on a film set like this before. I’d been on a film set twice before then, and I’m now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do, and I don’t know what’s expected of me, and I don’t know what you want, and I don’t know what I want.”

“Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything. I’m not worthy of needing anything at all.”

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in What Is Dead May Never Die, the third episode of the second season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series Game of ThronesEmilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in What Is Dead May Never Die, the third episode of the second season of HBO’s medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones (Credit: HBO)

Iconic Scenes: Emilia Clarke’s Powerful Performances

“He was crying more than I was,” Clarke said about the controversial rape scene in which Jason Momoa’s character, Khal Drogo, has violent sex with Daenerys on their wedding night.

“It’s only now that I realize how fortunate I was with that because that could have gone many, many, many different ways,” she added.

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Taragaryen and Nathalie Emmanuel as her interpreter Missandei in Game of ThronesEmilia Clarke as Daenerys Taragaryen and Nathalie Emmanuel as her interpreter Missandei in Game of Thrones (Credit: HBO)

“Because Jason had experience – he was an experienced actor who had done a bunch of stuff before coming on to this – he was like, ‘Sweetie, this is how it’s meant to be, this is how it’s not meant to be, and I’m going to make sure that that’s the fucking gaze.’ He was always like, ‘Can we get her a fucking robe? She’s shivering!’ … He was so kind and considerate and cared about me as a human being.”

Beyond the Screen: Emilia Clarke’s Red Carpet Elegance

In February 2016, Emilia Clarke reunited with a former “Game of Thrones” co-star at Harvey Weinstein’s Pre-BAFTA Dinner in Mayfair, London.

Emilia Clarke wears a white lace Burberry dress to a pre-BAFTA's dinner partyEmilia Clarke wears a white lace Burberry dress to a pre-BAFTA dinner party (Credit: Will Alexander / WENN)

Emilia Clarke was decked out in a head-to-toe Burberry outfit, which included a classic white lace dress that the actress paired with one of the brand’s statement blazers.

Emilia Clarke's feet in suede Burberry sandalsEmilia Clarke’s feet in suede Burberry sandals (Credit: WENN)

Emilia finished her look by showing off her feet in slim strap sandals in nude suede.

Emilia Clarke PreBAFTA Mayfair Burberry 4Emilia Clarke signs autographs for fans while wearing a Burberry ensemble in London (Credit: Tim McLees / WENN)

Emilia reunited with Charles Dance, who played Lord Tywin Lannister on the popular show. Lord Tywin was cut off at the end of season four after his character was brutally shot with arrows while going to the bathroom. Yep, he died on the throne.

You can order Emilia’s slim strap suede sandals at Farfetch and Nordstrom.

Burberry Slim Strap Suede SandalsBurberry Slim Strap Suede Sandals, $1,050