Emilia Clarke Reveals She Felt 'Meant to Die' After Two Brain Aneurysms During Game of Thrones

Emilia Clarke, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, has shared harrowing details of her battle with two brain aneurysms while working on the HBO series. In a recent interview on the How to Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, Clarke recounted the emotional and physical challenges she faced after the life-threatening events.

Clarke revealed that she became convinced she was "meant to die" following the aneurysms, which occurred in 2011 and 2013. "The biggest thing that happened to me with the second one was I shut down emotionally," she said. "And it became this thing where I just couldn’t look anyone in the eye."

"I was just convinced that I had cheated death and I was meant to die and every day, that was all I could think about."

In 2011, Clarke experienced a subarachnoid hemorrhage shortly after completing the first season of Game of Thrones. Following emergency surgery, she struggled briefly with speech. Doctors also discovered a second, smaller aneurysm on the opposite side of her brain. By 2013, the second aneurysm had grown, requiring invasive surgery to repair it.

"It was this, like, I’m not meant to be here. This is going to come and get me," Clarke recalled. "You’re walking around knowing that your body failed you. Your brain has failed you … and no one else can see it."

The fear of another aneurysm haunted Clarke even after her recovery. Shortly after her second surgery, she was sent to San Diego Comic-Con to promote the upcoming season of Game of Thrones. During the event, she began experiencing severe headaches, which she feared were a sign of another aneurysm.

"My publicist was like, ‘Right, we got to do this live interview with MTV,’ and I was like, ‘I think I’m going to die. I think it’s happening,'" Clarke recounted.

Despite the trauma, Clarke emphasized the resilience she drew from her upbringing. "I was blessed that after each of my brain injuries, in my mind, there was no other option but to carry on," she said. "I was raised by a family that did not partake in pity. Self-pity was not on the table. It’s not how we operated."

Clarke’s health struggles did not deter her from continuing her role as the Mother of Dragons. She starred in all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, solidifying her place as one of the most iconic actresses of the 2010s.