Emilia Clarke worried Beyonce would "hate" her after ‘Game of Thrones’ season eight.
The 32-year-old actress came face-to-face with her idol at an Oscars afterparty earlier this year and while she was overwhelmed when the ‘Formation’ singer praised her, she was preoccupied with awareness that her alter ego, Daenerys Targaryen, was set to become a "mass-killing dictator".
She recalled: "I see this vision, this angel, this incredible woman float towards me. I can’t quite control myself. And Beyoncé says to me, ‘Oh, my goodness, it’s so wonderful to meet you. I think you’re brilliant.’
"I just couldn’t handle it! I was on the verge of tears. I could see myself reflected in her eyes. I could see her go, ‘Oh, no. I misjudged this. This girl is crazy and I’m not going to have a real conversation with another celebrity. I’m having a conversation with a crazed fan who’s looking at me like a rabbit in the headlights.’ Which is exactly what I was.
"I said, ‘I’ve seen you live in concert and I think you’re amazing and wonderful! Wonderful!’
"And all I wanted to scream was ‘Please, please still like me even though my character turns into a mass-killing dictator! Please still think that I’m representing women in a really fabulous way.’
"I was just, like, Oh, my God, my absolute idol in life is saying that she likes me, and I know for a fact that by the end of this season she’s going to hate me."
While Emilia insisted she had no idea what was going to happen to the Mother of Dragons – who was killed by her lover, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) in Sunday’s (19.05.19) finale – she was given a big clue by showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss when they gave her a reference point for her character’s journey.
She told the New Yorker: "I remember the boys–our writers and showrunners–telling me that Daenerys’s arc is that of Lawrence of Arabia.
"I watched ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, and I was, like, ‘Great, cool. He’s brilliant. He survived, and it’s wonderful.’
"But then you remember how that movie ended, with Lawrence’s disintegration. I didn’t quite put those two things together. Or maybe I didn’t want to see it coming because I care about Daenerys too much.
"Fundamentally, he’s brought in as a saviour. He goes in and fights for the people, but then, ultimately, it’s a story about how power corrupts absolutely. You see power turn this man wild and mad. He can’t see anymore through the haze, the giddy highs, of being in charge. And that’s what Daenerys experiences.
"And yet I care for her so much. She’s been a part of me for so long that, in reading this script, I did what any actor is told to do and would do. You have to agree with your character. If you don’t agree with your character, then you shouldn’t take the job."
Emilia Clarke feared being hated by Beyonce
