The path to becoming Daenerys Targaryen, the formidable Mother of Dragons in HBO’s Game of Thrones , was anything but conventional for the then-unknown actress Emilia Clarke. The role demanded a rare blend of regal power and underlying vulnerabilities, a seriousness Clarke was prepared to deliver during her final, high-stakes audition. But it was an entirely unexpected, fearless act of levity—a nervous robot dance—that ultimately sealed her fate and convinced skeptical network executives that she was their Queen.
The Make-or-Break Audition
Clarke’s final audition in 2010 was held at HBO’s corporate theater in Los Angeles, following the disastrous filming of the original, unaired pilot. The air was thick with tension, with showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss facing a phalanx of executives, including the unsmiling President of HBO. Clarke delivered her dramatic scenes perfectly, boasting Daenerys’s resolution, but the mood remained rigid and corporate. Benioff sensed the need to break the ice.
Terrified Yet Fearless: The Dance That Landed the Job
Nervously, Clarke asked, “Can I do anything else to lighten the mood?” Benioff, likely joked, threw out the challenge: “You can do a dance.” Clarke, fueled by adrenaline and desperation, did not hesitate. She launched into the most ridiculous moves she knew, first the “funky chicken” and immediately followed by a fully committed “robot.” Co-creator DB Weiss later confirmed the immediate impact: “Emilia did the robot. She did it with commitment and she did it well…and even the president had no choice but to smile.” The corporate tension shattered. Weiss concluded, “She got the job 10 seconds after she left the room…”
The Recast Crisis and a Star Is Born
Clarke’s successful final audition was part of a major creative salvage operation after the original Game of Thrones pilot proved flawed, necessitating a substantial and expensive reshoot and a number of recasts. Crucially, Clarke was not the original actress cast as Daenerys. Her ability to immediately inject life and personality into the character under immense pressure during this re-casting crisis was the ultimate differentiator, proving she had the star quality and willingness to commit that the creators were seeking. This spark convinced executives she could embody the nuanced journey from a shy, traumatized girl to a charismatic queen. The show’s eventual success, earning 59 Primetime Emmy Awards and becoming a global cultural phenomenon, validated the showrunners’ instinct in making the unconventional choice based on a spontaneous robot dance.