History Creator / EmiliaClarke

* ActionGirl: A few of her most prominent roles are these, including Qi'ra, Sarah Conner and Daenerys (in Dany's case she commands armies but doesn't do much fighting personally, though she does master [[DragonRider dragon riding]] in the show's latter half and gets to kill some wights in the final season).

** She auditioned to play Sharon Carter in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', but the role went to Creator/EmilyVanCamp. She would eventually be cast as Abigail Brand for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse series ''[[Series/SecretInvasion2023 Secret Invasion]]''.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as Abigail Brand

** She auditioned to play Sharon Carter in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', but the role went to Creator/EmilyVanCamp. She would eventually be cast in an unknown role for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse series ''Secret Invasion''.

*** She admitted feeling uncomfortable about the numerous nude scenes in Season 1 and found scenes involving her character being sexually assaulted distressing, even [[CreatorBreakdown going off to cry in the toilets]] between takes. She later negotiated to have less nude scenes in subsequent seasons and stated that in hindsight she would've handled it differently. She later stated in 2019 that she was tired of interviewers constantly talking about the nudity as if there was nothing more to the role (especially as the amount of nudity tends to be overblown with Daenerys following Season 1).

** Daenerys from ''Series/GameOfThrones'' already received an AgeLift from 13 in the books to 17, but Clarke herself was 23 when filming began.

** She also attempted to wear purple contact lenses to more closely match Daenerys' book appearance (the Targaryens are famed for having silver-blonde hair and purple eyes). However, it's said the lenses irritated her eyes so much it affected her performance (along with Harry Lloyd who played Viserys Targaryen), so they opted not to use them.

* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: Inverted. Daenerys is a [[TheStoic very serious,]] [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask humourless queen]]. Emilia is known for being very funny and goofy out of character. ''Film/MeBeforeYou'' is closer to her real personality.

* StarMakingRole: As [[Series/GameOfThrones Daenerys Targaryen]], of course. Before landing the role she was pretty much unknown as a film school grad with only a few roles under her belt. The role catapulted her to becoming one of the most recognizable faces in television.

* DawsonCasting: Her babyface and stature (5'2") have put this trope into effect for many of her best-known roles.

Clarke's early work includes two plays at St. Edwards, ten plays at Drama Centre London, the 2009 Company of Angels production of Sense, and a 2009 commercial for the Samaritans. Her first television roles were Saskia Mayer in a 2009 episode of Doctors and Savannah in [[Film/SyFyChannelOriginalMovie Syfy's 2010 film]] ''Triassic Attack''. Screen International magazine named her as one of the "UK Stars of Tomorrow".

In 2012, Clarke appeared in ''Spike Island'', a film named after the location of The Stone Roses' seminal 1990 gig. From March to April 2013, Clarke played Holly Golightly in a Broadway production of ''Literature/BreakfastAtTiffanys''. In May, it was announced that she had joined the feature film Garden of Last Days. In July 2015, Clarke played Sarah Connor in ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' -- speaking of which, she is not related to Creator/JasonClarke. In 2016, she appeared in the romantic drama ''Film/MeBeforeYou'', in 2017, she starred in the psychological thriller ''Film/VoiceFromTheStone'', and in 2018 she starred in ''Film/{{Solo}}'' as Han's FirstLove, Qi'ra.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as TBA

** She was offered the role of Anastasia Steele in ''Film/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', but although she stated she liked Sam Taylor-Johnson's vision for the film, she turned it down because she didn't want to be "pigeonholed" as an actress only known for nudity and sex scenes (which would be pretty hard to avoid for ''Fifty Shades'' considering the subject matter).

** She [[https://people.com/movies/emilia-clarke-says-her-broadway-debut-in-breakfast-at-tiffanys-was-a-catastrophic-failure/ described]] her Broadway debut (playing Holly Golightly a stage adaptation of ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'') as a "catastrophic failure".

** ''Secret Invasion'' (2022)

** She [[https://people.com/movies/emilia-clarke-says-her-broadway-debut-in-breakfast-at-tiffanys-was-a-catastrophic-failure/ described]] her Broadway debut(playing Holly Golightly a stage adaptation of ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'') as a "catastrophic failure".

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animals}}'' (2017) as Lumpy (voice)

** ''VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones'' (2014, voice)

* ImageSource: For the following tropes, mostly as [[Series/GameOfThrones Daenerys]].
** AnywhereButTheirLips [[note]]along with Creator/IainGlen[[/note]]
** [[Narm/GameOfThrones The Game of Thrones Narm page]]
** GiganticAdultsTinyBabies
** PetMonstrosity
** [[ReferencedBy/GameOfThrones The Game of Thrones referenced by page]] [[note]]AsHerself reacting to ''Series/TheTonightShow''[[/note]]

* MsFanservice: Her various nude scenes on ''Game of Thrones'', plus a brief fanservice-y scene in ''Terminator Genisys'' and her revealing LittleBlackDress in ''Solo''.

* ''Film/{{Solo}}'' (2018) as Qi'ra

** She was heavily considered for June Moore/The Enchantress in ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'', but Creator/CaraDelevingne got it instead.

* ActionGirl: A few of her most prominent roles are these, including Qi'ra, Sarah Conner and Daenerys (in Dany's case she commands armies but doesn't do much fighting personally, at least she masters [[DragonRider dragon riding]] in the show's latter half).

** She is not fond of ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', stating in an interview that [[http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/21/emilia-clarke-bluntly-says-no-to-returning-as-sarah-connor-in-terminator-sequels-5831606/ her refusal to reprise the role of Sarah Connor is a reason why she hates this movie]]. Even before she had filmed it, she thought she was naive to accept the role of Sarah so early in her career. She also stated that "no one had a good time" during filming and compared it to the notoriously TroubledProduction of ''Film/FantasticFour2015''.

** She was offered the role of Anastasia Steele in ''Film/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', but although she stated she liked Sam Taylor-Johnson's vision for the film, she turned it down because she didn't want to be "pigeonholed" as an actress only known for nudity and sex scenes (which would be pretty hard to avoid for ''Fifty Shades'' considering the subject matter.

* DyeingForYourArt: She's a brunette [[http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tv/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-on-season-4-secrets-bad-ass-sarah-connor/#/0 and had to wear a huge blonde wig under the scorching Morocco sun for her most famous role.]] She actually bleached her hair platinum blonde for the final season of ''Game of Thrones'', though she later [[https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2563153/emilia-clarke-bleached-her-hair-to-play-daenerys-targaryen-for-game-of-thrones-final-season-it-did-not-go-well stated]] she regretted doing this, as the dye did a real number on her hair; she had to cut it extremely short and grow it out again to repair the damage.

* DawsonCasting: Her babyface and stature have put this trope into effect for many of her best-known roles. Daenerys from ''Series/GameOfThrones'' already received an AgeLift from 13 in the books to 17, but Clarke herself was 23 when filming began. In ''Film/MeBeforeYou'', where she would've been pushing 30, she plays 26-year-old Louisa. 3 years later, in ''Film/LastChristmas'', she's ''still'' playing a character younger than 27 — and, possibly, even younger than Louisa, although it isn't specified. ''Film/{{Solo}}'' provides one of the most extreme examples; Qi'ra is only 18 at the start, then 21 after the TimeSkip, yet Clarke was nearly ''31'' during filming.

* FakeAmerican: As Sarah Connor in ''Film/TerminatorGenisys''. She can also do a good ValleyGirl voice [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIBg-w6TNLE on command]].

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Her on-screen love interests tend to tower over her, as most of them tend to stand 6 feet and above while she's only 5'2. Examples are Creator/JasonMomoa (6'4) and Creator/MichielHuisman (6') in ''Game of Thrones'', and Creator/JaiCourtney (6'1) in ''Terminator Genisys''. Her ''Film/MeBeforeYou'' co-star Sam Clafin also came close at 5'11.

* MsFanservice: Her various nude scenes on ''Game of Thrones'', plus a brief fanservice-y scene in ''Terminator Genisys''.