Emilia Clarke Opens Up About Feeling “Profoundly Alone” Following Her Two Brain Injuries
Emilia Clarke revealed she thought she would be fired from Game Of Thrones after she suffered a brain injury.
The 37-year-old actress, who famously played Daenerys Targaryen on the hit HBO show, shared that after her first injury—which occurred in 2011 in between filming the first and second season and required surgery—she feared that she would be dropped from the series.
- Emilia Clarke feared she would be fired from Game of Thrones after suffering a brain injury in 2011.
- She underwent surgery for a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke, in 2011, and another brain aneurysm in 2013.
- The actress felt profoundly lonely and feared that she might never act again due to her condition.
“When you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight,” Emilia said during an interview with the Big Issue published on Monday (June 10).
Emilia Clarke revealed that she feared being fired from Game of Thrones following her first brain injury, which she suffered between the first and second seasons of the show
Image credits: emilia_clarke
“The first fear we all had was: ‘Oh my God, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I’m not capable of completing the job?’”
The hemorrhage reportedly took place while she was working out in a gym in north London.
The Me Before You star explained that she was back at work within weeks of her first brain bleed and feared that she was going to die of another hemorrhage on set.
“Well, if I’m going to die, I better die on live TV,” she recalled thinking.
In 2011, the actress was rushed to the hospital for urgent surgery for a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke that one-third of patients can die from
Image credits: HBO
Image credits: CBS This Morning
In 2013, Emilia suffered another brain aneurysm and underwent surgery again, which resulted in her losing “quite a bit” of her brain in the procedure.
“The amount of my brain that is no longer usable — it’s remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions,” she explained.
“I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.”
“The first fear we all had was: ‘Oh my God, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I’m not capable of completing the job?'” said the 37-year-old
Image credits: HBO
In the Big Issue interview, the London-born actress and model opened up about feeling lonely as a result of her condition.
“Having a chronic condition that diminishes your confidence in this one thing you feel is your reason to live is so debilitating and so lonely.
“One of the biggest things I felt with a brain injury was profoundly alone. That is what we’re trying to overcome.”
In 2013, Emilia suffered a second brain aneurysm and underwent surgery once more, which resulted in her losing “quite a bit” of her brain
Image credits: emilia_clarke
The London-born star founded the charity SameYou to develop better mental health recovery treatment for survivors of brain injuries, raise awareness, and advocate for change
Image credits: CBS This Morning
At one particularly dark point in her life, Emilia felt she “couldn’t carry on” and asked medical staff to let her die because she thought she would never act again.
Overcoming this difficult time has given her a “superpower,” she says.
She and her mother founded their charity, SameYou, in 2019 to develop better mental health recovery treatment for survivors of brain injuries, raise awareness, and advocate for change.
People lamented Emilia’s health issues and wished her “the best of health going forward”
Anyone who thinks an actress or indeed actor is ‘too big’ to be dropped or that they can’t be replaced is deluded. Big production companies will drop you in heartbeat if they think you can’t match the filming schedule or the pressure of long days in inhospitable environments. She knows the business very well and her fears were justified, glad she weathered those storms and came through, I bet it was a tough time.
You're entirely correct. Ed Norton got dropped as the Hulk (despite being a great actor) because he was deemed too difficult to work with. Katie Holmes was dropped from the Nolan Batman movies because she got pregnant and they apparently couldn't shoot around it. If you inconvenience the higher ups enough, for whatever reason, you're expendable.
Load More Replies... Anyone who thinks an actress or indeed actor is ‘too big’ to be dropped or that they can’t be replaced is deluded. Big production companies will drop you in heartbeat if they think you can’t match the filming schedule or the pressure of long days in inhospitable environments. She knows the business very well and her fears were justified, glad she weathered those storms and came through, I bet it was a tough time.
You're entirely correct. Ed Norton got dropped as the Hulk (despite being a great actor) because he was deemed too difficult to work with. Katie Holmes was dropped from the Nolan Batman movies because she got pregnant and they apparently couldn't shoot around it. If you inconvenience the higher ups enough, for whatever reason, you're expendable.
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