Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress. She studied at the Drama Centre London, appearing in a number of stage productions, including one by the Company of Angels. Her television debut came with a guest appearance in an episode of the British medical soap opera Doctors in 2009. The following year, she was named as one of the “UK Stars of Tomorrow” by Screen International magazine for her role in the Syfy film Triassic Attack (2010).

Clarke rose to prominence for her breakthrough role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). The role garnered her critical acclaim, international recognition, and several accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Three were for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, with the fourth nomination being for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2019.

Clarke made her Broadway debut as Holly Golightly in the 2013 play Breakfast at Tiffany’s and appeared in a West End production of The Seagull in 2020. Her film roles include Sarah Connor in the science fiction film Terminator Genisys (2015) and Qi’ra in the Star Wars film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). She has also starred in the romantic films Me Before You (2016) and Last Christmas (2019). In 2018, she was honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the British Artist of the Year award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.

Personal life

Clarke lives in Hampstead, London. In 2016, she purchased a $4.64 million house in Venice Beach, California. In 2019, she purchased another home in Islington, London.

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

Clarke is a feminist. She was voted the most desirable woman in the world by AskMen readers in 2014. In 2015 she was named Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive, and was recognized with the GQ Woman of the Year Award that same year. Men’s lifestyle magazine FHM named Clarke one of the 100 sexiest women is 2015, 2016, and 2017. She was also named in Glamour’s list of Best Dressed Women in 2017.

Once filming concluded on the final season of Game of Thrones, Clarke, as a tribute to her role as Daenerys Targaryen, commemorated her time on the show with a wrist tattoo featuring a trio of flying dragons.