Emilia Clarke says she believed she was ‘meant to die’ after second emergency brain surgery

Emilia Clarke has opened up about the emotional and physical trauma she endured after surviving two brain haemorrhages while filming Game of Thrones, admitting she became convinced she was “meant to die” following her second medical emergency.

The actress, who portrayed Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy phenomenon from 2011 to 2019, reflected on the frightening experience during an appearance on the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast. Clarke explained that the ordeal left her struggling with fear, isolation and intense anxiety throughout the height of her fame.

“I was just convinced that I had cheated death and I was meant to die,” Clarke said. “Every day, that's all I could think about.”

Clarke previously revealed she suffered her first brain haemorrhage shortly after completing the first season of Game of Thrones. At the time, the actress was only beginning to experience the pressures that came with leading one of television’s biggest series. She recalled collapsing during a workout at a London gym after experiencing what she described as unbearable pressure in her head.

“The closest thing to describe it is imagine an elastic band just snapping around your brain,” she said during the interview.

The actress explained that she immediately realised something was seriously wrong as the pain intensified. Clarke said she crawled to a bathroom and began vomiting before eventually receiving emergency medical treatment. Doctors later diagnosed her with a subarachnoid haemorrhage, a potentially fatal form of stroke caused by bleeding around the brain.

Clarke admitted she initially feared the condition would end her acting career before it had truly begun. She said she was deeply worried HBO executives and producers would see her as weak or unreliable after landing what she viewed as her dream role.

Instead of publicly discussing the experience, Clarke chose to keep the health crisis largely private. She informed showrunners David Benioff and D B Weiss but avoided speaking openly about the ordeal for years.

The actress later suffered a second aneurysm while living in New York during her Broadway run. According to Clarke, the surgery intended to repair the issue went wrong, forcing doctors to perform another emergency brain operation. She recalled her parents being repeatedly warned that she might not survive.

Following the second haemorrhage, Clarke said the emotional impact became even more severe. She described feeling detached from the world around her and hypersensitive to any physical symptoms, especially headaches, fearing another life threatening episode could happen at any moment.

Despite the trauma, Clarke said continuing to work on Game of Thrones ultimately became one of the few stabilising forces in her life. She explained that staying focused on filming helped her emotionally survive the darkest periods of her recovery.

“Without my work, I do not know what I would have done,” she said.

Over the years, Clarke has increasingly spoken about brain injury recovery and survivor isolation. In 2019, she co founded the charity SameYou with her mother Jennifer to support people recovering from brain injuries and strokes.

Looking back now, Clarke described her years on Game of Thrones as unforgettable despite the suffering behind the scenes.

“It was lightning in a bottle,” she said. “That was my youth.”