Emilia Clarke breaks silence on 'mental breakdown'

Emilia Clarke, Hollywood star, has revealed she suffered a “full mental breakdown” after Game of Thrones ended.

The 39-year-old actress, who played Daenerys Targaryen from 2011 to 2019 in the series, said the COVID-19 pandemic marked the first real pause of her career and forced her to confront a decade defined by pressure, two brain haemorrhages and the death of her father in 2016.

“It was the first time in my professional life that I stopped,” Clarke told The New York Times. “I had a full mental breakdown. The timing of the pandemic was almost bang on.”

Clarke said there was never time to process the impact of the show while it was airing. “There was never space to stop and consider the meaning of it,” she said.

She added that she is unlikely to return to fantasy roles, joking she won’t be seen “on a dragon ever again.”

The Me Before You star was initially hesitant to lead another TV series, Ponies, but said the project felt different because she was finally given creative agency.

After Game of Thrones, she said it took time to learn she could say no. “So much of my career didn’t reflect my taste,” she added.