Emilia Clarke "Completely Broke Down" After Filming Her Last Scene in Game of Thrones

The Mother of Dragons has come a long way [1] since she first began her journey on Game of Thrones [2], and it's safe to say fans cannot wait to see how it all ends in the final season [3], premiering on April 14. You know who else is excited about the final season? The Breaker of Chains herself, Emilia Clarke! The 32-year-old actress has been sporting a white-blonde wig and burning legions of people atop a CGI dragon for ten years, and in an interview with Harper's Bazaar [4] she had to admit, "[The ending] was just the mother of all releases."

To be fair, Clarke's had a decade-long run as queen Daenerys Targaryen and she's put in a lot of work for the role. She's walked through fire (unburnt, duh), dealt with copious misogyny, and, oh yeah, set out on a campaign to claim her rightful place on the Iron Throne. So, she's been pretty busy! But the final season of GoT isn't the end for Clarke by a long shot. The actress has plenty of projects lined up [5], including the upcoming holiday rom-com [6] Last Christmas, also starring Crazy Rich Asians [7]' Henry Golding, and a chilling thriller titled Above Suspicion, which is based on real-life events.

But before she moves on to all that greatness, we'll have to say goodbye to a certain Khaleesi. Read on for some of Clarke's sweetest quotes about bidding adieu to the one and only Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen.

On her overall experience shooting GoT: "Game of Thrones is probably the hardest shooting I'll do, because it is so physical and you're in a corset! You've got the physical places of where you are, the weather is so extreme, and the hours are really long and there's so much tension in each character towards the end. There's so much tension in the room, and you're concentrating so hard. It's strenuous."

On her overall experience shooting GoT: "Game of Thrones is probably the hardest shooting I'll do, because it is so physical and you're in a corset! You've got the physical places of where you are, the weather is so extreme, and the hours are really long and there's so much tension in each character towards the end. There's so much tension in the room, and you're concentrating so hard. It's strenuous."

On filming her last scene: "I started to do a little speech, not because I'm a pretentious actor, but because every time we said goodbye to a character, David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the showrunners would give us a gift and the crew would be around and everyone would stop and you'd sort of say a few words and it was really beautiful. I mean, I got three words in before I just completely broke down. You just hold it in and you're holding it in and you're holding it in, and then I just burst into tears like a complete idiot.
Then we cracked open the champagne, but it was then that I realized that alcohol is a depressant! So it was less a celebratory champagne, it was more kind of like, [pretends to sob] "We did it! We got to the finish line!""

On filming her last scene: "I started to do a little speech, not because I'm a pretentious actor, but because every time we said goodbye to a character, David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the showrunners would give us a gift and the crew would be around and everyone would stop and you'd sort of say a few words and it was really beautiful. I mean, I got three words in before I just completely broke down. You just hold it in and you're holding it in and you're holding it in, and then I just burst into tears like a complete idiot.
Then we cracked open the champagne, but it was then that I realized that alcohol is a depressant! So it was less a celebratory champagne, it was more kind of like, [pretends to sob] "We did it! We got to the finish line!""

On Dany going to the North and meeting the remaining Starks: "It's really surreal. I mean, you play into what it feels like for the character as well, because it's new and it's odd, and you're coming into someone else's turf and you've got a lot of actors that you know really well, who were like, "This is our home." Then you come in and you're like, "I know this only from the television; I've never been in this space here before in my life."
But also I must admit for the character, I felt it. I felt with every one of those moments that obviously the show is packed to the gills with. I felt for her. I was like, "Yes! Here we are! We're in, we're speaking with Sansa, we are that much closer." It felt great. Very, very exhilarating."

On Dany going to the North and meeting the remaining Starks: "It's really surreal. I mean, you play into what it feels like for the character as well, because it's new and it's odd, and you're coming into someone else's turf and you've got a lot of actors that you know really well, who were like, "This is our home." Then you come in and you're like, "I know this only from the television; I've never been in this space here before in my life."
But also I must admit for the character, I felt it. I felt with every one of those moments that obviously the show is packed to the gills with. I felt for her. I was like, "Yes! Here we are! We're in, we're speaking with Sansa, we are that much closer." It felt great. Very, very exhilarating."

On Dany's wardrobe being different in Winterfell: "Michele Clapton, our unbelievably talented costume designer, really takes each character's journey and reflects that in the clothing. Every single piece that I put on made sense for the scene that I was in, and made sense with the place that the character's in at that time. There's a real throughline for this particular season, there's a real arc and I feel like fans, like hardcore fans, will clock what's happening within the reflection of the clothing. There's definitely a story to tell there."

On Dany's wardrobe being different in Winterfell: "Michele Clapton, our unbelievably talented costume designer, really takes each character's journey and reflects that in the clothing. Every single piece that I put on made sense for the scene that I was in, and made sense with the place that the character's in at that time. There's a real throughline for this particular season, there's a real arc and I feel like fans, like hardcore fans, will clock what's happening within the reflection of the clothing. There's definitely a story to tell there."

On filming with Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) for the first time: "It was lovely. She's a really good friend of mine, so it was very fun, it was very silly, it was very then like, "Oh! We're doing this now, we're having like an actor discussion," as opposed to just me and Sophie. With all of those scenes meeting new people, it felt like every day was a little party.

On the end of her journey on GoT: "I think ending it was just the mother of all releases. It was just the metaphorical undoing of the bra, except it's like a 10-year experience."

On filming with Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) for the first time: "It was lovely. She's a really good friend of mine, so it was very fun, it was very silly, it was very then like, "Oh! We're doing this now, we're having like an actor discussion," as opposed to just me and Sophie. With all of those scenes meeting new people, it felt like every day was a little party.

On the end of her journey on GoT: "I think ending it was just the mother of all releases. It was just the metaphorical undoing of the bra, except it's like a 10-year experience."

On the biggest lesson she's learned from being on the show: "Oh heavens, I've learned how lucky I am to have the show. I've definitely learned how the people you work with can become such a family and such a support system, and to lean on them when needed because it's a singularly unique trait that our show has had because you don't normally get that much time with people. But more than anything, trusting myself and taking props for when it goes well, which I'm not very good at. Just tune out "shit.fm," which is what I like to call the nonsense that your brain sometimes likes to tell you, and just try and relax and have fun."

On the biggest lesson she's learned from being on the show: "Oh heavens, I've learned how lucky I am to have the show. I've definitely learned how the people you work with can become such a family and such a support system, and to lean on them when needed because it's a singularly unique trait that our show has had because you don't normally get that much time with people. But more than anything, trusting myself and taking props for when it goes well, which I'm not very good at. Just tune out "shit.fm," which is what I like to call the nonsense that your brain sometimes likes to tell you, and just try and relax and have fun."

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Emilia Clarke "Completely Broke Down" After Filming Her Last Scene in Game of Thrones