‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Emilia Clarke Advises Her 18-Year-Old Self On Body Shaming And Success

Emilia Clarke is as fierce and passionate about life as her Game of Thrones character, Daenerys Targaryen, and the actress recently revealed something of the struggles she has faced in achieving her success as an actress and as a sex symbol.

In a candid interview, Ms. Clarke offers some sage advice to her 18-year-old self, and it’s wisdom that many others struggling to achieve a dream should take to heart as well. Emilia talks about body shaming, rising to stardom, and real life confrontations that bring out the Dothraki in her.

Game Of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke Has Words For Her Younger Self

Emilia Clarke seems older and wiser now at 29 than she was at 18, so she felt compelled to offer her insights to her younger self, citing words of wisdom that her Game of Thrones fans should heed, regardless of their ages. For Clarke, the most important bit of advice she could offer herself is to rise above her own low self-esteem, regarding her body image, revealing that she once was guilty of fat shaming herself, needlessly.

“18-year old Emilia, I’m going to quote this Sunscreen song at you, I know you know it. You are not as fat as you think you are,” Clarke says. “There are some women who look some way, and there are other women who look another way. Like a whole other way. And the way that the other women look, people love. Because they look like women.”

Emilia says she’s now living a happier and healthier life, adhering to the Clean and Lean diet. The Game of Thrones actress credits the diet for giving her a new love for life and for herself.

Another area for disappointment in Clarke’s life has been her road to success, but she now realizes that each of us follows that journey at our own pace. For Emilia, she didn’t achieve success in her acting career until she was cast in Game of Thrones at 24 and, while that may still seem a young age to some, Clarke was daunted by so many actresses rising to fame at 18 or 19.

“There are going to be times when someone says, that dream that you’ve had, your entire life, the moment that someone says that’s impossible, it is,” Ms. Clarke says. “I know you didn’t get into drama school this time around, but, you will. You have the strength to overcome it.”

Real Life Confrontations Bring Out The Dothraki In Emilia Clarke

Clarke seems to have a fondness for the fictional Dothraki language used by her Game of Thrones character, Daenerys Targaryen, and she says it’s a language that comes and goes as she needs it. Even when she’s not on screen, Emilia says she can either draw upon her knowledge of Dothraki or create new words to suit the situation. Clarke recalls one incident in which she was in a scene, but not the focus of the camera, because it was on Joe Naufahu, who played Khal Moro on Game of Thrones.

“So my brain goes, ‘We don’t need Dothraki anymore because [the camera] isn’t on me, it’s not on my face, so you can just forget it.’ But annoyingly, I still need to speak even though it’s his close-up,” says Ms. Clarke. “So I found myself making it up and the hilarity that ensued was ridiculous. I looked at him dead in the eye said: ‘All-la-tat-tat-tat-TAT-TAT!'”

Emilia reveals that her impression of Dothraki as a whole language can be most closely likened to the experience of choking on something, because it’s such a guttural language. The Game of Thrones actress says the language is produced by making throaty, swallowing sounds. Even so, Clarke says she reverts to her Game of Thrones character in stressful situations, relying on her repertoire of Dothraki words to produce the most fitting curses and insults.

“Sometimes there are particular moments in life when only one word will do. Some people get it and some people don’t, and that one word is: Dracarys [“dragonfire”]. You’re just like, Dracarys – and it makes you feel better and the other person has no idea what you’re doing,” Emilia Clarke reveals. “But in your mind, you’re setting them on fire. So there’s something beautiful about that.”

The next episode of Game of Thrones airs on Sunday, May 1 on HBO.

[Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]