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Emilia Clarke believed she had “cheated death” and was “meant to die” after the TV star survived two life-threatening brain aneurysms while filming HBO’s blockbuster fantasy series.
Clarke survived both aneurysms while filming “Game of Thrones,” a health battle she kept largely private for years. The first aneurysm happened in 2011 right after filming for season one had wrapped. At 24 years old, Clarke collapsed at a gym in London.
“I was just convinced that I had cheated death, and I was meant to die,” Clarke, 39, said during an appearance on the “How to Fail with Elizabeth Day” podcast. “Every day, that’s all I could think about.”
She explained what suffering the first aneurysm felt like: “The closest thing to describe it is imagine an elastic band just snapping around your brain. This insane pressure.”
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Emilia Clarke, best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen on “Game of Thrones,” survived two life-threatening brain aneurysms while filming the HBO hit series. (Scott Garfitt/BAFTA via Getty Images)
She remembered crawling to the bathroom to vomit. “In that moment, I knew I was being brain damaged,” she recalled.
Clarke spent her time recovering focused on how to convince the “Game of Thrones” creators that she would be better in time to film the show. “I was so ashamed that this thing had happened and that the people who had employed me might see me as weak or see me as something that could be broken,” she added.
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The “Game of Thrones” cast at the season four premiere. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Despite telling show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Clarke kept the medical emergency private.
“I just didn’t want anyone to know,” she said.
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Emilia Clarke has spoken candidly about the lasting effects of the aneurysms, including that portions of her brain no longer function (Jacopo Raule/Getty Images)
She experienced a second brain hemorrhage after a scheduled surgery went awry two years later. Doctors had discovered another aneurysm during treatment for her first brain hemorrhage. “My parents were waiting for me, and the doctors would come down every half an hour and say, ‘We think she’s going to die,’” Clarke said.
Clarke explained she “shut down emotionally” after the second brain hemorrhage. “When you have a brain injury, you move around in the world differently,” Clarke said. “You become very sensitive.”
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Emilia Clarke founded the charity SameYou, which focuses on recovery care for young people after brain injuries and strokes. (Getty Images)
The “Me Before You” star revealed she was missing parts of her brain in 2022 after both her brain injuries.
“I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that… There’s quite a bit missing!” Clarke explained during an appearance on “BBC One’s Sunday Morning,” via The Hollywood Reporter. “Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit it’s missing is therefore gone.”