Emilia Clarke was born Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke on October 23, 1986, in London, England. Her father, Peter (who passed away in 2016), worked as a theatre sound engineer, and as of 2019, her mother, Jennifer, is the vice-president of marketing at a management consultancy firm. Emilia’s older brother, Bennett, worked as a camera trainee on “Game of Thrones.” Jennifer and Peter raised their children in Oxfordshire, and Emilia’s interest in acting came at the age of 3, when she saw a production of “Show Boat.” Clarke studied at Rye St Antony School and St Edward’s School and appeared in school productions of “West Side Story,” “The Crucible,” “Macbeth,” and “Twelfth Night.” She graduated from the Drama Centre London in 2009.
Clarke made her television debut in 2009 with a guest-starring role on medical soap opera “Doctors,” and the following year, she appeared in “Triassic Attack” on the Syfy network, was cast in “Game of Thrones,” and was named a UK Star of Tomorrow by “Screen International” magazine. Emilia gained international fame for her performance as Daenerys Targaryen, “Mother of Dragons,” on “Game of Thrones,” earning critical acclaim and several awards.
The series, which is based on a fantasy book series by George R. R. Martin, ran for 8 seasons, and Clarke appeared in 62 episodes. During her early years on the popular HBO series, Emilia appeared in the short film “Shackled” (2012), the feature films “Spike Island” (2012) and “Dom Hemingway” (2013), and a 2013 Broadway production of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (playing Holly Golightly).