Emilia Clarke feared losing 'Game of Thrones'role over health concerns

Emilia Clarke has opened up about the harrowing experience of suffering two brain aneurysms during the Game of Thrones early season.

The Me Before You actress revealed in an interview with Big Issue that she was afraid of being axed from the show following her initial injury, which happened in 2011 between the first and second season's filming and necessitated surgery.

“When you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight,” Clarke said.

She added, “The first fear we all had was: ‘Oh my God, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I’m not capable of completing the job?’”

The Last Christmas starlet also mentioned that she remembers thinking, “Well, if I’m going to die, I better die on live TV.”

Earlier speaking with the BBC’s Sunday Morning in 2022, she disclosed that she lost “quite a bit” of her brain in the process.

“The amount of my brain that is no longer usable — it’s remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions,” Clarke said.

She added, “I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.”

Following her surgery, she took a big initiative as she founded the charity SameYou to help other victims of brain injuries.