On a recent episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Emilia Clarke opened up about filming Game of Thrones with Jason Momoa.
Clarke and Momoa's characters, Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo, were in a politically convenient arranged marriage.
The first scenes of the actors together were potentially awkward, but Clarke says Momoa's energy helped.
Imagine you're a 23-year-old actress reporting to prep for your first... ever lead role. Your character's debut scene? Get n-ked, get in a bathtub and get ready to marry a gruff, gigantic stranger. That was the situation Emilia Clarke found herself in after being cast as Game of Thrones.
In an interview with Dax Shepard on Ella's podcast Armchair Expert, Clarke credited Ella's ex Got Ella co-star Jason Momoa for helping her get out of the first season unscathed. Other actresses, of course, have spoken of her negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experience filming s-x scenes on film and television. And as of 2018, HBO now hires intim-cy coordinators for sets, ensuring safe experiences for everyone involved.
'He took care of me in an environment where I didn't know I needed to be taken care of,' Clarke said. 'Jason was a seasoned actor who had done a lot of stuff before he got into Game of Thrones. He said, 'This is how it should be and how it should not be.' I'm going to make sure that's not the case.' So he would always say, 'Can we get you a robe? He is shaking!
Now that he is older and more experienced, Clarke appreciates Momoa's active role more. “It is only now that I realize how lucky I was. That could have gone many, many different ways. He was very kind and considerate, and he cared about me as a human being,” Clarke said.
Since the show's premiere in 2011, thanks in part to the #MeToo movement, the cultural conversation around the topic of s-xual assault has evolved. As such, the show and some of the commentary from its actors have not aged well.
In 2017, Momoa made headlines for a controversial joke he made at a Comic Con panel in 2011, shortly after the show hit HBO. Momoa said that he loved acting in the sci-fi genre because "there are so many things you can do...like rape beautiful women." Later that year, Momoa made another offhand comment about violating Clarke's character to the New York Post.
Following the pushback to the comments unearthed from him, Momoa posted a public apology on Instagram. 'I am still very disappointed in myself for the insensitivity of my comments that day. I know that my sincerest apology will not remove those hurtful words. Rape and s-xual harassment can happen to anyone and I have seen firsthand its painful torment among my own family members and friends. I made a really rude comment. It is unacceptable and I sincerely apologize with a heavy heart for the words I said.”
