Emilia Clarke has spent nearly a decade rising to fame as Daenerys of the House Targaryen, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms and Mother of Dragons, on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Clarke, who went from a struggling actress and part-time carter waiter, is now an international superstar who represents fierce, independent women. With the series coming to an end, Clarke will hang up her platinum wig for good in 2019. Letting go of a culture-defining television role is both liberating and deflating. Some actors live the rest of their lives as that character in the public eye. But Clarke is approaching the pivotal transition with a “stubborn insistence on behaving like a normal, grounded human being,” writes Vanity Fair, who put Clarke on its most recent cover.
And the star has already begun to move on. This month, Clarke joins the rapidly expanding Star Wars universe as Qi’ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story. She is Han Solo’s childhood friend turned unreliable ally and her character is nothing like Daenerys.
Clarke is also an active member of the #MeToo movement and has plans to write and produce her own material, all while creating new opportunities for the women in the industry.
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