With HBO’s Game of Thrones never shying from saying goodbye to characters, star Emilia Clarke admits that she was constantly afraid of being killed off the show. “On the show you have the phone call,” Clarke shared during The Hollywood Reporter‘s Drama Actress Roundtable.
“You get a call from David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], who are the creators of the show, and everyone starts to really dread that phone call,” Clarke said, whose character survived to make it to the series finale. “That’s the kiss of death.”
“I started so green and was so incredibly grateful to be employed, I just assumed every impostor syndrome times a million,” Clarke continued. “I just assumed that every time I read the script I was going to be written off because I was just crap, and that they had had enough, and that this time was the last time.”
The actress went on to share the time she knew she had made it in Hollywood when she auctioned off the chance to watch an episode of Game of Thrones with her, only to discover that Brad Pitt had joined the bidding war. “He didn’t ultimately win,” she said, but, “it was the most ridiculous, surreal moment of my entire existence.”
(SPOILER): Clarke starred as Queen Daenerys Targaryen in the Emmy Award-winning series. Daenerys died at the hand of Jon Snow on Sunday’s series finale.
The full Drama Actress Roundtable airs July 7 on SundanceTV. Clarke stars on the roundtable along with Patricia Arquette, Christine Baranski, Danai Gurira, Niecy Nash and Michelle Williams. Follow all the Emmy season roundtables at THR.com/Roundtables.
