While the world watched Emilia Clarke embody the fiery resolve of Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, on HBO’s Game of Thrones, few knew she was fighting a secret, terrifying battle of her own. During the early, pivotal years of filming the acclaimed series, Clarke was struck by two life-threatening brain aneurysms, an ordeal she kept hidden for years.
The actor’s fight for survival began in 2011, just after she finished filming the first season. While exercising, Clarke suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)—a life-threatening type of stroke caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain. It was her first of two such ruptures.
The immediate aftermath of the first emergency surgery was harrowing. For an actor whose entire career hinges on communication, the most devastating side effect was a condition known as aphasia—the temporary inability to use or understand language. While recovering in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Clarke realized she couldn’t remember her own name. She later wrote that “Nonsense words tumbled out of my mouth.”
In her darkest moments, fearing her ability to act was gone forever, she felt she wanted to “pull the plug.” Showing incredible tenacity, the aphasia eventually passed after about a week. Despite carrying the burden of a second, smaller aneurysm that doctors warned could rupture at any time, Clarke left the hospital within a month, determined to return to the set of Game of Thrones to film Season 2.
Clarke endured immense physical and psychological strain to maintain her high-profile role in the following years, often battling pain and debilitating fatigue in secret. Her second brain aneurysm, which had doubled in size, required a second, more invasive surgery in 2013 after filming of Season 3 had wrapped.
This second procedure, which required doctors to access her brain through her skull, was more difficult. Yet, demonstrating extraordinary strength, she continued to work, keeping her condition quiet from the public to prevent it from defining her or affecting her job prospects. Clarke eventually went public with her ordeal in 2019, revealing her journey. Her ability to face two nearly fatal strokes and immediately return to conquer one of the most demanding roles on television stands as a testament to her astonishing will and resilience.