{"id":2234821,"date":"2026-01-14T18:55:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T18:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2234821"},"modified":"2026-01-14T18:55:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T18:55:40","slug":"emilia-clarke-had-a-full-mental-breakdown-after-game-of-thrones-ended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/emilia-clarke-had-a-full-mental-breakdown-after-game-of-thrones-ended\/","title":{"rendered":"Emilia Clarke had a &#8216;full mental breakdown&#8217; after &#8216;Game of Thrones&#8217; ended"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F01%2F118902286.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Winter was ending for Emilia Clarke.<\/p>\n<p>The actress revealed just how hard it was for her after \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d ended following eight seasons in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the first time in my professional life that I stopped,\u201d Clarke, who starred as Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons on the series, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/13\/arts\/television\/emilia-clarke-ponies.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told The New York Times<\/a>. \u201cI had a full mental breakdown. It was almost as if the timing of the pandemic was bang on.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emilia Clarke attends the Global Gift Gala London 2025 at the Kimpton Fitzroy Hotel on November 01, 2025. <span class=\"credit\">WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The hit HBO show first debuted in 2011 and also featured\u00a0Sophie Turner,\u00a0Kit Harington and Maisie Williams.<\/p>\n<p>Once \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d concluded, it gave Clarke time \u201cto realize that I could try and get some autonomy over my choices, my work. So much of my career didn\u2019t reflect my taste, I just sort of shot out of a cannon.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The \u201cMe Before You\u201d star, 39, was just 22 when she landed the role, which was her third acting job.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emilia Clarke as Daenerys in Season 8 of \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Clarke said she \u201cnever had time to stop and consider the meaning of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Going forward, the actress, who earned four Emmy nominations during her time on \u201cGoT,\u201d doesn\u2019t see herself working in fantasy again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even in the same frame as a dragon, ever again,\u201d Clarke told the outlet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen and Kit Harington as Jon Snow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2019\/03\/21\/emilia-clarke-suffered-life-threatening-aneurysms-during-game-of-thrones\/\">2019, the star shared<\/a>\u00a0that shortly after filming Season 1 of the HBO show in 2011, she\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2019\/03\/21\/emilia-clarke-suffered-life-threatening-aneurysms-during-game-of-thrones\/\">had an aneurysm<\/a>, which also led to a type of stroke called a subarachnoid hemorrhage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life,\u201d Clarke penned in a piece\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/personal-history\/emilia-clarke-a-battle-for-my-life\">published by The New Yorker<\/a>\u00a0at the time.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>In 2024, she said she <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/06\/10\/entertainment\/why-emilia-clarke-feared-shed-be-fired-from-game-of-thrones\/\">feared of getting fired<\/a> due to her brain aneurysm.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the series finale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight,\u201d Clarke told\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bigissue.com\/culture\/emilia-clarke-brain-injury-sameyou-game-of-thrones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Big Issue<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first fear we all had was: \u2018Oh my God, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I\u2019m not capable of completing the job?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clarke was nervous that the high pressure atmosphere would cause a second brain hemorrhage.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emilia Clarke was seen out in NYC on Jan. 14, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">BlayzenPhotos \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She recalled thinking, \u201cWell, if I\u2019m going to die, I better die on live TV.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving a chronic condition that diminishes your confidence in this one thing you feel is your reason to live is so debilitating and so lonely,\u201d Clarke continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the biggest things I felt with a brain injury was profoundly alone. That is what we\u2019re trying to overcome.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, Clarke continued to work on the show until the finale, which\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2019\/05\/15\/angry-game-of-thrones-fans-sign-petition-demanding-season-8-remake\/\">riled up fans<\/a> due to how the show\u2019s ending <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2019\/05\/19\/how-the-final-season-of-game-of-thrones-blew-it-more-than-lost\/\">torpedoed Daenerys\u2019 character arc.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Clarke told\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/2019\/05\/19\/game-thrones-finale-interview-emilia-clarke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Entertainment Weekly<\/a>\u00a0in 2019 that she had no idea Daenery was set to turn into the villain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat, what,\u00a0what,\u00a0WHAT!?\u201d she recalled about her reaction to Dany\u2019s death. \u201cBecause it comes out of f\u2013king nowhere. I\u2019m flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming.\u00a0I cried. And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house and took my keys and phone and walked back with blisters on my feet. I didn\u2019t come back for five hours. I\u2019m like, \u2018How am I going to do this?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A shot from Season 6 of \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI called my mom and [told her], \u2018I read the scripts and I don\u2019t want to tell you what happens but can you just talk me off this ledge? It really messed me up,\u2019\u201d Clarke continued. \u201cAnd then I asked my mom and brother really weird questions. They were like: \u2018What are you asking us this for? What do you mean do I think Daenerys is a good person? Why are you asking us that question? Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you OK?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<p>But a year later, she divulged to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-solo-star-wars-story-1234971060\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>\u00a0that she had made peace with her ending. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really have,\u201d she insisted. \u201cI really, really, really have.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Winter was ending for Emilia Clarke. The actress revealed just how hard it was for her after \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d ended following eight seasons in 2019. \u201cIt was the first time in my professional life that I stopped,\u201d Clarke, who starred as Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons on the series, told The New York [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2234822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[25538,21751,393317,21741,330562,21917,22205,21913],"class_list":["post-2234821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-actors","tag-celebrities","tag-emilia-clarke","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-hbo","tag-television","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Emilia-Clarke-had-a-full-mental-breakdown-after-Game-of.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2234821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2234823,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234821\/revisions\/2234823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2234822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}