EMILIA CLARKE | PUT A RECORD ON, WATCH THE WORLD GROW

Jenny Cusak

May 10, 2019

“When I watch telly or a movie, it’s escapism. I just want to not think about my fucking life for a minute. I want to sit there, and be transported,” says Emilia Clarke, the 32-year-old English actor at the epicenter of one of the biggest, highest grossing, most culturally significant and revered shows on the planet: Game of Thrones.

EMILIA CLARKE

Emilia Clarke Survived Two Life-Threatening Aneurysms While Filming 'GoT'

She had kept her condition private before publishing an essay about it in the 'New Yorker.'

By Nicole Clark

|

Mar 21 2019, 2:05pm

On Thursday, the New Yorker published a personal essay by Emilia Clarke, the famed actress who plays Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones. Clarke writes, in compelling, thorough detail, about her private, grueling battle with life-threatening brain aneurysms, which set in after she filmed the first season of the show.

Clarke's health problems first emerged when she was 24. She recalls the exact date—February 11, 2011—and the crippling headache that came on at the beginning of a session with a personal trainer. She writes that, almost immediately, she realized she had sustained brain damage, and was taken to the emergency room in Whittington, England, in immense pain. An MRI revealed she'd had a subarachnoid hemorrhage—a life-threatening stroke—and needed immediate brain surgery to seal off the aneurysm.

"I remember being told that I should sign a release form for surgery," Clarke writes in the New Yorker. "Brain surgery? I was in the middle of my very busy life—I had no time for brain surgery."

Two weeks after the surgery, Clarke wrote that she was unable to remember her own full name, and felt "blind panic" at the thought that she might not be able to recall lines in order to do her job. She was suffering from aphasia, a type of language impairment.

"I knew I was faltering," Clarke writes. "In my worst moments, I wanted to pull the plug. I asked the medical staff to let me die. My job—my entire dream of what my life would be—centered on language, on communication. Without that, I was lost."

After about a week, the aphasia passed. A month later, she was already back on set. But the hospital had informed her there was another smaller aneurysm on the other side of her brain that could potentially "pop" without warning. She was constantly exhausted and in pain throughout the filming of season two, and during a publicity tour in London, she needed to take morphine between interviews.

"On the set, I didn’t miss a beat, but I struggled," Clarke writes. "Season 2 would be my worst. I didn’t know what Daenerys was doing. If I am truly being honest, every minute of every day I thought I was going to die."

In 2013, Clarke's routine brain scans revealed the second aneurysm had doubled in size and needed to be operated on immediately. But the surgery was unsuccessful, and required an immediate, invasive second surgery through her skull. She spent a month at the hospital in order to recover, and struggled with "terrible anxiety" and panic attacks.

Clarke writes that, thankfully, she has since made a complete recovery.

"I have healed beyond my most unreasonable hopes," she writes. "I am now at a hundred per cent."

It's staggering to think that Clarke managed to push through filming a show as intense as Game of Thrones—complete with stress-inducing battle sequences, sex scenes, and 55-day shoots—all while grappling with a potentially fatal condition. That's to say nothing of the strength it takes to keep something like that to yourself. 

"But I survived," she writes in the New Yorker. "There is something gratifying, and beyond lucky, about coming to the end of Thrones. I’m so happy to be here to see the end of this story and the beginning of whatever comes next."

Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.

VICE

Emilia Clarke reveals she had life-threatening stroke in 2011

Emilia Clarke

Actor Emilia Clarke reveals she had life-threatening stroke in 2011

Game of Thrones star could not remember her name after subarachnoid haemorrhage

Press Association

THU 21 MAR 2019

The Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has revealed she had a life-threatening stroke eight years ago that left her unable to remember her name.

The actor experienced a potentially fatal brain haemorrhage in 2011 before undergoing major surgery.

Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen in the fantasy TV series, lived with an aneurysm in her skull for two years before again sustaining a bleed on her brain. Doctors immediately operated by opening up her skull.

Clarke has launched SameYou, a charity aimed at supporting young people with brain injuries and helping them access resources to aid recovery.

She said she wanted to break her silence over her near-fatal brain injuries to help others with the “invisible illness”.

“I know from personal experience that the impact of brain injury is shattering,” Clarke said. “Recovery is long term and rehabilitation can be difficult to access.

“Brain injury can be an invisible illness and the subject is often taboo. We must help young adults take control of their recovery and allow them to open up without fear of stigma or shame.”

The actor was relatively new to her role as Daenerys when she felt enormous pressure on her brain during a workout.

“I reached the toilet, sank to my knees and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill,” she wrote in the New Yorker.

“Meanwhile, the pain – shooting, stabbing, constricting pain – was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening – my brain was damaged.”

She was revealed to have had a subarachnoid haemorrhage – a type of stroke – and underwent surgery. Many people do not survive the initial haemorrhage.

When Clarke awoke from surgery, she could not remember her name. She was told she still had an aneurysm in her skull but chose not to have it removed.

“Let’s face it, I’m an actor. Vanity comes with the job. I spent way too much time thinking about how I looked,” she wrote.

Clarke again underwent surgery in 2013 after sustaining a bleed on the brain and has made a full recovery over the years.

The actor now wants to support others who have experienced the same fears and pain. “The degree to which people can adapt and face the future after neurological trauma is dependent on the quality and provision of rehabilitation care,” Clarke said.

“While I was recovering, I saw that access to integrated mental and physical health recovery programmes are limited and not affordable for all. I am determined to help.”

THE GUARDIAN

Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke praises Game of Thrones' female characters

Star, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, says the female characters in the HBO drama have become stronger in season five

Press Association
Tuesday 7 April 2015 19.27 BST

Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has praised the show for creating female characters which “accept our femininity”.

The HBO drama, based on George RR Martin’s epic fantasy novels, has been a huge hit around the globe but has been accused of misogyny because of its depiction of sexual violence.

Clarke, who plays royal exile Daenerys Targaryen, told Radio Times magazine that the female characters had become stronger.

Emilia Clarke

She said of the new, fifth series: “You start to see all of the women in the show accepting who they are and embodying that with such power that it’s palpable.

“I think that’s the beauty of the show: as women, we accept our femininity and take strength from it, as opposed to trying to hide it and behave in a masculine way.”

Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, promised big changes in the new episodes, which are broadcast on Sky Atlantic in the UK.

Emilia Clarke at HBO’s Game of Thrones season five premiere.
Photograph: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO

“When I say, ‘There’s a massive change in Game of Thrones’, I think it’s the first time I’ve actually meant it! People are going to think, ‘You go through a change every year!’

But this year it’s on a completely different level, and that’s why it’s so exciting. It sounds so broad, but actually ‘change’ is really, really specific,” she said.

THE GUARDIAN

Emilia Clarke / Breakfast at Tiffany´s

Emilia Clarke 

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Photos by Jason Bell