Emilia Clarke Explains How She's Felt Pressed To Do Nude Scenes After 'Game Of Thrones'

Last Christmas star Emilia Clarke was the latest guest on Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert, where she opened up about her career, the end of Game of Thrones, and how exhausted she is about the assumption that she will get nude on camera. Even after years of playing a complicated character, many people in the industry only saw her as the formerly naked queen.

"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, 'F*ck you.'"

Clarke continued, explaining that she credits her season one costar and love interest Jason Momoa for helping her feel more comfortable on set during these scenes and to not be afraid of making demands.

"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.. Regardless of there being nudity or not, [without Momoa] I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything; I’m not worthy of needing anything at all."

Clarke has been asked about her naked body on Game of Thrones so many times that she took to Instagram back in 2015 to defend the show's use of nudity, which was often described as gratuitous.

"In drama, if a nude scene forwards a story or is shot in a way that adds insight into characters, I’m perfectly fine with it. Sometimes explicit scenes are required and make sense for the characters/story, as they do in Westeros. If it's gratuitous for gratuitous sake, then I will discuss with a director on how to make it more subtle. In either case, like a good Mother of Dragons, I'm always in control."

Clarke was so over being asked about nudity that she turned down the lead role in Fifty Shades Of Grey to avoid being typecast. She said during an Emmy Awards Roundtable:

"The last time that I was naked on camera ... was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman. And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my t*ts, for God’s sake. I did a minimal amount and I’m pigeonholed for life."