Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke[1] (born 23 October 1986) is an English

actress.[2] She studied at the Drama Centre London, appearing in a number of stage
productions, including one by the Company of Angels. After making her screen debut in
a short film, 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 international prominence for her breakthrough role as Daenerys

Targaryen in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). The role
has garnered her critical acclaim and several accolades, including three nominations for
the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and
a pending nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in
a Drama Series.

Clarke made her Broadway debut as Holly Golightly in a production of Breakfast at

Tiffany's in 2013. Her film roles include Sarah Connor in the science fiction film
Terminator Genisys (2015), Louisa Clark in the romance film Me Before You (2016),
and Qi'ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Time magazine named her one of the 100
most influential people in the world in 2019.[3]

Clarke's early work includes two plays at St. Edward's,[11] ten plays at Drama Centre
London, the 2009 Company of Angels production of Sense,[13] and two 2009
commercials for Samaritans.[16] One of her first film roles was for a University of
London students' short film.[17] Her first television roles were Saskia Mayer in a 2009
episode of the British soap opera Doctors and Savannah in Syfy's 2010 film Triassic
Attack.

Clarke gave herself a year to become successful as an actor. Nearing her deadline, she
was cast in her third professional role[12] as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy
series Game of Thrones, based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.
R. Martin. Clarke received the role in 2010 after fellow British actress Tamzin
Merchant was replaced for undisclosed reasons.[18] In an interview, Clarke stated that
she did the funky chicken and robot dance during her audition.[19] The show debuted in
April 2011 to positive reviews and was quickly picked up by the network for a second
season.[20] She won the 2011 EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for
her role as Daenerys.[21] In 2013, she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting
Actress in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards.[22] She was nominated
again in the category in 2015 and 2016.[23]

She has received widespread praise for her portrayal of Daenerys, which traces an arc
from frightened girl to empowered woman. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe called
her scenes "mesmerizing", adding that "Clarke doesn't have a lot of emotional variety to
work with as Daenerys, aside from fierce determination, and yet she is riveting."[24]
Emily VanDerWerff for The A.V. Club commented on the difficulty of adapting such an
evolution from page to screen, but concluded that Clarke "more than seal[s] the deal
here."[25] In 2017, she reportedly became one of the highest paid actors on television,
potentially earning £2 million per episode of Game of Thrones.[26][27]
In 2012, she appeared in Spike Island, a film named after the location of The Stone
Roses' seminal 1990 gig.[28] From March to April 2013, she played Holly Golightly in a
Broadway production of Breakfast at Tiffany's, a role requiring her to perform a nude
scene.[29] That year, she also starred in Dom Hemingway alongside Jude Law. Critical
reaction to the film was mostly positive, though it was a commercial failure.[30][31]

n 2016, she starred as the female lead, opposite Sam Claflin, in the movie adaption of
the best-selling book of the same name, Me Before You, released on 3 June 2016.[36] The
film was a commercial success, grossing over $200 million worldwide and is Clarke's
highest-rated film on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[37][38] For her role as
Louisa Clark, she shared nominations with Sam Claflin for the Teen Choice Award for
Choice Movie Liplock and the MTV Television Tearjerker Award.

She played the lead as Nurse Verena, in the film Voice from the Stone which was
released on April 2017 in limited release, video on demand and digital HD.[39][40]

In November 2016, she was cast as the female lead in Solo: A Star Wars Story, released
worldwide on 25 May 2018.[41] She is also attached to the films The Guns of August,
opposite Helena Bonham Carter,[42] and Above Suspicion, opposite Jack Huston.[14] In
January 2017, she was cast as the lead in the upcoming English language adaptation of
the 2015 Korean romantic comedy, The Beauty Inside.