Emilia Clarke Speaks Out About Being Pressured to Shoot Nude Scenes

Emilia Clarke shot a number of nude scenes on Game of Thrones, especially during the first half of the series (remember when “sexposition” entered the lexicon?). And in a recent interview, she revealed that she often felt pressured to shoot them at all, that the experience could be intensely uncomfortable, and that in this current stage of her career, she now feels more empowered to fight for herself.

On Sunday’s episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Clarke spoke about her post-Thrones career and how she navigates misogynistic expectations in Hollywood. “I’m a lot savvier with what I’m comfortable with, and what I am okay with doing,” she explained. “I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, ‘No, the sheet stays up,’ and they’re like, ‘You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans.’ And I’m like, ‘Fuck you.’”

Clarke said that her frequent scene partner Jason Momoa was supportive, and encouraged her to speak about when she felt that she was being asked to shoot too many nude scenes (or, in her words, a “fuckton”).

“I’m floating through this first season and I have no idea what I’m doing; I have no idea what any of this is,” she said about her early days on GOT. “I’ve never been on a film set like this before, I’d been on a film set twice before then, and I’m now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do, and I don’t know what’s expected of me, and I don’t know what you want, and I don’t know what I want. Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything; I’m not worthy of needing anything at all.”