Emilia Clarke covers Hero Complex Magazine

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen is featured on the cover of the Spring issue of LA Time’s Hero Complex Magazine. In a detailed new interview Emilia talks about growing alongside Daenerys over the years, speaking High Valyrian, Season 4, and more.

In the premiere episode of Season 4, we find Daenerys and her army marching towards Meereen, her largest conquest yet, in hopes of freeing its people from slavery. Emilia believes that what sets Daenerys apart from the other characters on the show is that she does not simply want to sit on the throne, she has a purer goal in mind: equality. “Her ultimate goal is entirely selfless. It feels much more of a bigger idea than simply I want to sit on the throne because I want to sit on the throne. She would like to rule and create an equal world.”

As Daenerys continues on her journey, so does Emilia, who feels like they continue to grow together. “I relate to her more and more, oddly enough. Every season I find more depth to her as a character and, within that, finding more depth in myself. She’s definitely grown and continues to grow from a girl into a woman, and me too, so we’re in it together.”

Although Daenerys has become a part of Emilia, High Valyrian has not. Emilia admits that the finished product is a bit of an editing miracle, as the language gives her quite a bit of trouble, creating some comedic moments on set. “Oh, my goodness, you should see the outtakes. I’m always amazed when I watch the show. I’m like, “They edited that really well! They made me sound like I knew what I was doing.” But, yeah, I have Tourette’s when I’m doing the Valyrian scenes. The rest of the crew is always quite funny. It’s like, “OK, we’ll go back to the bit where … what are you saying? Just go from the top.” No one quite knows what you’re talking about.”

No one quite knows what will happen over the episodes of Season 4 either, as the writers continue to surprise everyone. Emilia offers what little she can, teasing a darker season unlike any before. “I think the dark places that we go to in Season 4 are unlike any other season so far. It’s on so many levels. It’s not just blood, it’s bigger than that. Both the characters and hopefully the audience are so invested in the plots and the characters at this stage that the revelations you’ll see really just take it up a notch and somewhere even darker.”

For more of Emilia’s feature visit Hero Complex.

• Published on 04/09/2014 at 6:09 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:43 PM CDT