Emilia Clarke Explains Why Game of Thrones Fans Don't Recognize Her in Real Life

"It just feels so magical," actress says of new found fame

By McKenna Aiello Apr 18, 2016 6:35 PMTags
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When it comes to fame, Emilia Clarke really has the best of both worlds. 

The actress strikes a sultry pose on the cover of Vogue Australia's May issue. "It's a happy day when they make you look at least 55,000 times better than you do in real life and happen to put THAT image on the front of a magazine," Clarke recently wrote on Instagram. In the magazine's cover story, Clarke dishes on the pressure she faces when it comes to portraying her beloved Khaleesi character on Game of Thrones.

With the wildly popular HBO series' return just around the corner, Clarke says she is much more comfortable with her Mother of Dragons title than she was back during the show's inaugural episodes. 

"The first couple of years I was plagued by a kind of: 'Oh my god, this is my first role. Don't f--k it up. Do good, just do good,'" Clarke says. "And there was a kind of personal intensity that went along with it because I was playing a character already loved by so many people who had read the books, and just making sure that she was what people were hoping she would be."

Lucky for Emilia, GoT junkies fell in love with those piercing blue-green eyes and infamous blond locks, another aspect of playing Khaleesi that has granted the 29-year-old relative anonymity in the real world. 

Esquire's "Sexiest Woman Alive" told the mag only "diehard fans" recognize her without the cascading wig, and there are even times when she's asked to snap photos of her co-stars with supporters of the show. "If I'm walking down the street with Kit [Harington] or Gwen [Christie] or anyone from the show, fans will be like: 'Can you just take a picture of us please?' And I'm like: 'Sure, I can.'"

And even fellow Hollywood insiders have trouble recognizing the brunette beauty off-screen. Clarke offers one pretty hilarious example: "Like, the GQ Awards last year, I walked in and I'm with my mate Lola and we're having a great time and no-one's talking to us and that's chill...But then they gave me an award, so I did a little speech. And then I come off the stage and everyone's like: 'Oh my god, without all the dragons I didn't recognize you!'"  

Despite it all, Emilia says minor hiccups like those really keep her humble.

"I tell you what, it just feels really joyful. I know that sounds like such a bloody L.A. thing to say, but it just feels so magical," she says. "But I can't tell you how much I'm conscious of being grounded. And my friends and family are absolutely the first people to be like: 'Oh, hey there, big boots.'"

Clarke adds, "On a personal level I understand what it is to be unhappy or to not succeed, so my only goal in life throughout this career is to absolutely relish in the good moments. The bad ones could be just around the corner, so it's so important to not ever get complacent."

For more from Emilia, pick up Vogue Australia, on newsstands today.