Emilia Clarke moved from Game of Thrones to Chekhov plays
Appearing in the West End is a challenge she's wanted for a long time
Best known for playing the fearless Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, in Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke says she is "petrified of fear" ahead of her UK theater debut in Chekhov's “The Seagull”.
“I am perfectly aware of the fact that there will be people who love "Game of Thrones" and came to watch this because of that” - the actress points out for the BBC and adds: “It's ten times scarier because there will be people who will want to watch this to say, ‘Well, she can only act in front of the camera, obviously she can't act on stage,’ which is obviously my biggest fear.”
The British actress also hopes that by appearing in a play written in 1895, about a group of lonely Russians living on an isolated country estate, she will encourage a different audience to visit the theatre.
“With any luck, they'll come and say, ‘We only came to see the Mother of Dragons, what a disappointment, she doesn't ride a dragon, I didn't pay for this.’ Spoiler: I don't ride a dragon at any point in the show. But with a bit of luck, they will get the chance, as a bonus, to enjoy this show that they might not have seen otherwise” - notes Clark with a smile.
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Emilia plays Nina, alongside fellow actor Tom Rhys Harries, who plays Trigorin. But there is another layer of nervousness. After a frenetic decade that saw Clarke become a global superstar, suffer two brain hemorrhages and lose her beloved father to cancer, finally appearing in the West End is a challenge because she has wanted it for a long time. “It's scary because my dream is finally coming true” - she says.
Even more so because the production was supposed to start in March 2020, but was pulled after only four preview performances when the pandemic closed theaters.
“There is no greater art than theater. I love it. I absolutely adore it. I feel the happiest, the safest, the most at home in it” - admits the thirty-five-year-old superstar.
Clarke rose to fame in front of the camera on HBO's epic fantasy series Game of Thrones in 2010, just two years after graduating from acting school. The series quickly became notorious for its explicit sex and violence, and Clarke, who was 23 when work began on the project, said she cried before filming certain "terrifying" nudity scenes.
