Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled princess who became a legendary conquerer and Mother of Dragons in HBO's Game of Thrones, is a character who inspires some strong opinions. Many of her fans weren't happy with the way her arc wrapped up in the show's final season.
One of them, it turns out, is Emilia Clarke, the actor who plays Daenerys. In an interview with The Times, Clarke talked about the final season of Game of Thrones and how she felt about the way the story concluded.
Daenerys is a main character in the unfinished book series by George R.R. Martin that inspired the show, and her screen version was likewise a major focus right from the beginning. She went through an incredible amount of growth, becoming one of the most powerful individuals that the world of Westeros had ever known, as well as a deeply complicated character.
However, Game of Thrones delivered a twist by filling her with a murderous rage that made her into a danger to her former allies, and then having her own lover, Jon Snow, take her down.
Clarke doesn't seem to identify too closely with who her character became, but she does have sympathy: “Yeah, I felt for her. I really felt for her. And yeah, was I annoyed that Jon Snow didn’t have to deal with something? He got away with murder — literally.”
Even aside from the fate of Daenerys, Game of Thrones has a well-earned reputation for being violent and grim, and Clarke apparently wants a break from that. Asked about her future career, she expressed a desire for a lighthearted role. “I want to do something absolutely stupid and silly, like, you know, The Avengers or whatever," she said.
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe might object to the descriptor "stupid and silly", but she seemed to mostly be referring to the fun of it: "Something where I got to have a giggle with mates.”
Game of Thrones stars Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and Kit Harington.
(via SyFy Wire)