Background

Ethnicity: Her grandmother on her mother’s side was born in colonial India in the Lucknow province, which gives Clarke one-eighth Indian ancestry.

Clarke was born on 23 October 1986 in Westminster, London and grew up in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Her father was a theatre sound engineer from Wolverhampton, West Midlands. Her mother is the vice-president of marketing for a global management consultancy. She has an older brother.

Clarke is of partial Indian descent as she stated in a 2018 interview that her maternal grandmother was born as the result of a secret affair between her great-grandmother and a man from the Indian subcontinent. Her grandmother wore light makeup to hide the dark complexion she had inherited from her father. She credits this background for her family having a "history of fighters", saying: "The fact that (my grandmother) had to hide her skin color, essentially, and try desperately to fit in with everyone else must've been incredibly difficult."

Education

Clarke's interest in acting was sparked at the age of three after seeing the musical Show Boat, on which her father was working.

Clarke was educated at Rye St. Antony and St. Edwards in Oxford, during which time she appeared in productions of West Side Story and Twelfth Night. Rounding out her love of performance, she also learned to sing and play the guitar. Following her graduation from secondary school, she was accepted at the esteemed Central Saint Martins Drama Centre London, which counts actors such as Michael Fassbender, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy among its more famous alumni. While pursuing her studies, Clarke appeared in numerous stage productions at the school.

Career

After completing her studies at the Drama Centre in 2009, Clarke set to work building her career, landing her first television role in the BBC dramatic series Doctors and appearing in several commercials. A more significant role came the following year, in the made-for-TV horror/sci-fi movie Triassic Attack (2010). But despite this early television work, Clarke was holding several day jobs to make ends meet.

Her big break finally came when she received a call from her agent asking her if she could audition for the new HBO series Game of Thrones. Clarke immediately called in sick to the catering company she was scheduled to work for, and after a successful audition was cast in the role of Daenerys Targaryen, would-be queen, and Mother of Dragons, a role originally held by Tamzin Merchant, who left the show after filming the unaired pilot for undisclosed reasons. Based on the series of novels by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones was an immediate and massive hit and has run for multiple wildly successful seasons to date, with its cast and crew earning countless awards along the way. For her role in the show, Clarke has received several Emmys and Screen Actors Guild nominations and in 2011 won Entertainment Weekly’s EWwy Award.

Clarke’s newfound fame quickly led to other projects, including a starring role in the 2012 indie music drama Spike Island. In 2013, she made her first appearance on Broadway, cast as Holly Golightly in a stage production of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and starred opposite Jude Law in the British comedy Dom Hemingway. After turning down the lead in 50 Shades of Grey - stating that she didn’t want to be pigeonholed in “nudity” roles - Clarke was cast as Sarah Connor opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator Genisys, the 2015 installment of the Terminator saga. Outside of her ongoing work on Game of Thrones, Clarke has starred in the romantic drama Me Before You (2016) and the much anticipated Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) as female lead Qi'ra, Solo's childhood friend and romantic interest. Clarke's upcoming film projects include The Guns of August, Above Suspicion and an adaptation of the Korean rom-com The Beauty Inside.

Achievements

• 

  Emilia Clarke rose to international prominence for her breakthrough role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011– present). The role has garnered her critical acclaim and several accolades, including three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Clarke was once voted ‘the most desirable woman in the world’ by AskMen readers and also named ‘Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive’ in 2015.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Shackled

    (After Brian McDonald is found murdered on a beach, his si...)

    2012
  • Voice From The Stone

    (Set in 1950s Tuscany, Voice from the Stone is the hauntin...)

    2017
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story

    (Through a series of daring escapades, Han Solo befriends ...)

    2018
  • Dom Hemingway

    (After spending 12 years in prison for keeping his mouth s...)

    2013
  • Spike Island

    (Five teenage friends will stop at nothing to attend a con...)

    2012
  • Me Before You

    (A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a rece...)

    2016
  • Terminator Genisys

    (When John Connor, leader of the human resistance, sends S...)

    2015

• TV series

  • Game of Thrones: The Complete Seasons 1-7

    (Nine noble families fight for control over the mythical l...)

Religion

Clarke is mostly non-religious.

Politics

Like most of the actors, she is also not very outspoken of her political views. She is a liberal by American standards, The only hint related to the political sphere was a retweet that said, “Four more years” from Barack Obama on the election night in 2012. Although, it is possible that she joins most of her colleagues in supporting things like gay marriage, environmentalism, and gun control.

Views

Besides being beautiful and talented, she is a strong and independent lady who is a proud supporter of feminism. On the International Women's Day 2017, the English actress published an op-ed in ‘HuffPost UK’ stating her views on feminism and gender equality.

Since her rise to prominence, Clarke has contributed time and effort to a variety of charitable organisations. In September 2011, she joined SMA Trust team as their celebrity ambassador. In August 2017, she became a patron of Open Door, a non-profit that aims to help young people gain access to drama school auditions. She auctioned a chance to watch an episode of Game of Thrones with her at the 2018 Sean Penn Charity Gala, which raised over $120,000 benefiting the J/P HRO & Disaster Relief Organizations. In February 2018, she appeared at London's Centrepoint Awards, which celebrates the courage shown by homeless young people. In April 2018, she was named ambassador to the Royal College of Nursing.

In 2019, following the announcement of the brain aneurysms she suffered in 2011 and 2013, Clarke launched SameYou. The charity aims to broaden neurorehabilitation access for young people after a brain injury or stroke.

Quotations: "My father always said, 'Never trust anyone whose TV is bigger than their book shelf' - so I make sure I read."

“One of the many things I love about Daenerys from Game of Thrones is she's given me an opportunity to fly the flag for young girls and women, to be more than just somebody's wife and somebody's girlfriend.”

"At first, everyone was telling me how brave I was and I kept thinking, 'What are you talking about? Who would turn this down? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to be on Broadway playing this iconic role.' And then you get on Broadway, and you go, 'I'm on Broadway playing an iconic role!' It all dawns on you."

“I was at a Golden Globes after party and Channing f**king Tatum came up to me, and his stunning missus, Jenna Dewan. And they said, 'We call each other moon of my life and my sun and stars’ and all that. I was like, 'I cannot contain this. Please, can we all have something sexual together? You're both beautiful. Even just a hug'.”

“Don’t do drugs, don’t have sex, and don’t touch your eyebrows.”

“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.'”

“My rule is never to look at anything on the Internet.”

"I feel some things about it. I feel like there's a little bit of inequality with the amount of nudity that happens with women, this woman in particular, and that happens with the other guys. I just think that should be even. Free the penis! Take it off!"

“I want to be known for my acting, not for my breasts.”

“I told my parents I wanted to be an actor, and they were getting ready for a life of unemployment, so they're just happy I'm in work!”

"I long for the countryside. That's where I get my calm and tranquillity - from being able to come and find a spot of green.”

"One of my best friends has come out with me for this trip, and she reminded me of something rather embarrassing. I've known her for almost two decades, and she said, 'When I first met you, you said, 'Hi, my name's Millie, and I want to be an actress.'' I was like, 'God, that's cringe-worthy', but I was always determined."

"Personally, I'd like as many children as I can pop out, I reckon."

Personality

Emilia has a happy-go-lucky personality.

She’s an animal lover and owns a dog named Roxy.

Clarke has an interest in architecture. She wanted to be a singer or a graphic designer if not an actor. She loves eating candies, fashion and watching TV.

Emilia is an avid backpacker and has traveled through India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and South Africa.

In addition to speaking English, Clarke can speak French and German.

Physical Characteristics: Emilia Clarke has eyes with central heterochromia. Both irises of her eyes are greyish blue colored on the outer rim and hazel coloured on the inner rim. She has petite and curvaceous figure, striking, heavy eyebrows, pale skin and full lips.

In a March 2019 article she wrote for The New Yorker, she revealed she had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a form of stroke caused by a ruptured aneurysm, in 2011. She underwent urgent endovascular coiling surgery, and subsequently suffered from aphasia, at one point unable to recall her own name. She had a second aneurysm surgically treated in 2013.

She has a tattoo of a bumblebee on her left pinky finger. Emilia did this to celebrate her joyous experience of working in the movie Me Before You.

Emilia tattooed three flying dragons on her right wrist after completing the principal photography for Season 8 of Game of Thrones (2011). She did this to celebrate her decade long journey of playing the character of Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones (2011).

Most fans don’t recognize Emilia Clarke without her white-blonde Khaleesi wig. So while some Game of Thrones stars get recognized wherever they go, Clarke doesn’t often have that problem.

Emilia who stands at a height of 5ft 2 inches has a slim and portable body which weighs 58 kg. She has got the perfect green eyes placed on her fluffy face, giving her bright smile a unique glow.

Quotes from others about the person

• “Emilia is so hilarious, you’d be surprised how many rap songs that girl knows the lyrics to. She’s thrown out a bit of Busta Rhymes in the past and we both love UK Grime music, so we have a great time. When we were in Bilbao shooting Game of Thrones season seven, a whole group of the cast went to see The Chemical Brothers which was so much fun.” - Nathalie Emmanuel

Interests

• Favorite movie - Clueless (1995)
  
  Favorite television series - Friends (1994)

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Writers

  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

• Sport & Clubs

  Horseback-riding, ice skating, rowing, running, sailing, skiing, swimming and tennis

• Athletes

  Sevilla FC

• Music & Bands

  Emilia can sing and play some piano, flute and guitar. Is highly skilled at alto, ballads, blues, cabaret singing and jazz singing.

Connections

In late 2018, Clarke and Charlie McDowell confirmed they were dating via an Instagram post they both made on her birthday. She lives in Hampstead, London. In 2016, she purchased a $4.64 million house in Venice Beach, California.

Mother:

Jennifer Clarke

Partner:

Charlie McDowell

(born July 10, 1983)

He is an American film director and writer. He is most known for his film The One I Love.

Friend:

Kit Harington

(born 26 December 1986)

He is an English actor.

colleague:

Peter Dinklage

(born June 11, 1969)

He is an American actor and producer.

colleague:

Maisie Williams

(born 15 April 1997)

She is an English actress.

colleague:

Jason Momoa

(born August 1, 1979)

He is an American actor.

colleague:

Lena Headey

(born 3 October 1973)

She is an English actress.

colleague:

Sophie Turner

(born 21 February 1996)

She is an English actress.

colleague:

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

(born 27 July 1970)

He is a Danish actor, producer and screenwriter.

colleague:

Alfie Allen

(born 12 September 1986)

He is an English actor.

colleague:

Iain Glen

(born 24 June 1961)

He is a Scottish actor.

colleague:

Nathalie Emmanuel

(born 2 March 1989)

She is an English actress.

References

• Rolling Stone July 13-27, 2017 Emilia Clarke The "Game of Thrones" Star Tells All
• Vanity Fair Magazine (Summer, 2018) Emilia Clarke Cover
• Harper's Bazaar Magazine December 2017 January 2018, Emilia Clarke
• TV Guide Magazine April 1-14 2019 Emilia Clarke Kit Harington Game of Thrones
• Elle Magazine August 2017 | Emilia Clarke
• Glamour Magazine - May 2016 with Emilia Clarke
• The Hollywood Reporter - April 3-10, 2015 #11 - Emilia Clarke on cover
• Entertainment WEEKLY April 1 - 8, 2016 Double Issue Thrones Emilia Clarke Cover
• ESQUIRE Magazine (Nov 2015) Sex, Drugs & Cars + Sexiest Woman Alive Emilia Clarke
• Vogue Australia Magazine (May, 2016) Emilia Clarke Game of Thrones Cover