Emilia Clarke Bio
Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress who achieved international fame for her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in HBO’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2019. Born and raised in London and Oxfordshire, Clarke trained at Drama Centre London and began her professional acting career in 2009. Her performance as the dragon queen earned her four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and established her as one of the most recognizable faces in modern television. Beyond television, Clarke has built an impressive film career spanning major franchises including Terminator Genisys and Solo: A Star Wars Story, while also making notable appearances on stage in both Broadway and West End productions.
Early Life and Background
Emilia Clarke was born on 23 October 1986 in London, England, and grew up in Oxfordshire. Her father, Peter Roderick Clarke, worked as a theatre sound engineer and was originally from Wolverhampton. Her mother, Jennifer Susan Dodd Clarke, serves as a vice-president for marketing at a management-consultancy firm and directs The Anima Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping young people in Ghana. Clarke has a younger brother named Bennett, who worked in the entertainment industry and was part of the camera department for Game of Thrones.
Clarke discovered her passion for acting at age three after seeing a production of the musical Show Boat. Her father took her to a West End audition for The Goodbye Girl when she was ten years old. She was privately educated at Rye St Antony School in Headington and later attended St Edward’s School in Oxford, graduating in 2005. After initially being rejected from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Clarke took a sabbatical year to work and travel before successfully enrolling at Drama Centre London, where she graduated in 2009.
Path to Acting
While attending St Edward’s School in Oxford, Clarke participated in student productions of Twelfth Night and West Side Story, gaining early experience in performance. During her time at Drama Centre London, she appeared in the 2009 production Sense, co-produced by Company of Angels and the drama school. She also appeared in Drop the Dog, a University of London student short film, marking one of her earliest film appearances.
After graduating from drama school in 2009, Clarke worked various non-acting jobs while pursuing auditions. She starred in two Samaritans charity commercials portraying a domestic abuse victim. Her first credited television role came in a 2009 episode of the British soap opera Doctors. The following year, she played Savannah in the television film Triassic Attack, released on the Syfy channel in the United States. Despite negative reviews for the film, Clarke was recognized as a “UK Star of Tomorrow” by Screen International magazine in 2010.
Emilia Clarke Career
Early Career (2009–2011)
Following her television debut in Doctors, Clarke continued building her portfolio with supporting roles in television and film. Her performance in Triassic Attack brought her to the attention of casting directors, though the science-fiction fantasy film received poor critical reception. The recognition from Screen International as a rising British talent proved instrumental in opening doors to more significant opportunities.
Breakthrough (2011–2019)
Clarke was cast in her third professional role in 2010 as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. She had replaced actress Tamzin Merchant after the pilot episode was re-shot in early 2010. The series, based on George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire, premiered in April 2011 and ran until May 2019, with Clarke portraying Daenerys throughout all eight seasons. Her character arc, which traced the evolution from a frightened young girl to a powerful ruler, earned critical acclaim.
Critics praised Clarke’s performance, with The Boston Globe noting her “mesmerising” scenes and “riveting” presence despite limited emotional range to work with. In 2017, she reportedly became one of the highest-paid actors on television, earning between £1.2 million and £2 million per episode. Clarke received multiple award nominations for her role, including three nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013, 2015, and 2016. At the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards, she received her first nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Notable Works and Milestones
Beyond Game of Thrones, Clarke appeared in numerous high-profile film projects. She made her Broadway debut playing Holly Golightly in the 2013 production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a role that required performing a nude scene. In 2015, she starred as Sarah Connor alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator Genisys, a role that earned her nominations at the Teen Choice Awards and Jupiter Awards. The film was a box office success, grossing over $440 million worldwide despite unfavorable reviews.
Clarke starred as Louisa Clark in the 2016 romantic drama Me Before You, opposite Sam Cliflin. The film, adapted from JoJo Moyes’s best-selling novel, was a commercial success with worldwide revenues of $200 million. In 2018, she portrayed Qi’ra, Han Solo’s childhood friend and love interest, in Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard. Her performance received positive reviews, with critics identifying her as one of the film’s standout elements. That same year, she starred as Jean Kerr in the thriller Above Suspicion and appeared in the romantic comedy Last Christmas, which grossed over $121 million globally.
In 2020, Clarke returned to the stage playing Nina in the West End production of The Seagull, directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Playhouse Theatre. The production, initially suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed in July 2022 and was broadcast internationally via National Theatre Live. Critics praised her “magnetic” and “undeniably charismatic” performance, marking a successful transition from screen to stage.
Emilia Clarke Award Nominations
Clarke has received recognition throughout her career with numerous prestigious award nominations. She has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2019 for Game of Thrones, representing the highest recognition in television acting. Clarke has also received multiple Critics’ Circle Awards nominations, with her most recent nomination coming in 2018. Time magazine recognized her influence by naming her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019, highlighting her impact both in entertainment and beyond.
Emilia Clarke Awards Won
Clarke has accumulated several notable award wins reflecting her impact across entertainment and philanthropy. In 2018, she received the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year, one of the most prestigious honors for British talent. That same year, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognizing her contributions to film. In 2019, she won a Shorty Award for a video created to raise awareness for her charity SameYou and the Royal College of Nursing.
In 2020, Clarke was presented with the Public Leadership in Neurology award by the American Brain Foundation for her advocacy work raising awareness about neurorehabilitation. In the 2024 New Year Honours, both Clarke and her mother, Jennifer Susan Dodd Clarke, were made Members of the Order of the British Empire for their charitable work establishing SameYou, which provides neurorehabilitation services for young people recovering from brain injuries and strokes. Clarke received her MBE at Windsor Castle from the Prince of Wales in February 2024. In 2023, she was named Actress of the Year at the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards and received the Hollywood Rising-Star Award from the Deauville American Film Festival.
| Award | Wins | Year |
|---|---|---|
| BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year | 1 | 2018 |
| Shorty Award | 1 | 2019 |
| Public Leadership in Neurology Award | 1 | 2020 |
| Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) | 1 | 2024 |
| Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year – Actress of the Year | 1 | 2023 |
| Hollywood Rising-Star Award (Deauville American Film Festival) | 1 | 2023 |
Emilia Clarke Family
Clarke was born to Peter Roderick Clarke and Jennifer Susan Dodd Clarke. Her father, who worked as a theatre sound engineer, was an important figure in her life and introduced her to the world of performance from a young age. He passed away in 2016 following a battle with cancer. Her mother has maintained a successful career in business while also directing The Anima Foundation, a charity helping young people in Ghana. Clarke’s maternal grandmother’s father was from British India, and Clarke has spoken publicly about her pride in this ancestry.
She has a younger brother named Bennett Clarke, who works in the entertainment industry. Bennett served in the camera department for Game of Thrones, allowing the siblings to work together on the production that launched Clarke to international fame. In 2024, Clarke and her mother were jointly honored with MBEs, recognizing their collaborative efforts in establishing the charity SameYou.
Personal Life
Clarke resides in the London Borough of Islington. She previously owned a house in the Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles, which she purchased in 2016 and sold in December 2020. In a 2013 interview, she revealed that her mother had established rules during her upbringing: “Don’t do drugs, don’t have sex, and don’t touch your eyebrows.” Clarke disclosed that she was bullied as a child for having what she described as “ridiculous eyebrows.”
Regarding her romantic life, Clarke was in a relationship with Seth MacFarlane from 2012 to 2013. She subsequently dated Charlie McDowell from 2018 to 2019. Clarke has been open about her health challenges, revealing in a 2019 essay for The New Yorker that she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm in February 2011, shortly before beginning filming for Game of Thrones. She underwent urgent endovascular coiling surgery and experienced aphasia, at one point being unable to speak her own name. She underwent treatment for a second aneurysm in 2013. Following her recovery, Clarke established the charity SameYou to improve neurorehabilitation access for young people who have experienced brain injuries or strokes. She commemorated her time on Game of Thrones with a dragon tattoo on her wrist and has a bumblebee tattoo on her pinky finger honoring her role in Me Before You.