Time Magazine released its Time 100 list today, the magazine’s annual list of the most influential people in the world. The list, which marks its sixteenth year this year, honors a wide-range of figures from various areas of society and culture — politics, science, entertainment, sports, and more. As one might expect there are some familiar names on the list — and Game of Thrones‘ star Emilia Clarke is one of them.
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The Daenerys Targaryen actress made this years’ Time 100 in the “artists” category, and was honored in a write-up by Emma Thompson, who stars with Clarke in the upcoming British romantic comedy, Last Christmas, due out in November. And Thompson made it very clear: Clarke doesn’t just play a fierce woman on television; she is one in real-life as well.
“Emilia Clarke, they said,” Thompson wrote. “I confess — I worried. Ten years on Game of Thrones is enough to turn anyone funny. Would she still have bone-white hair and eat only raw horse?”
Thompson then went on to describe just how different from her Game of Thrones character Clarke was when working with her on Last Christmas, but also noted that does have has something in common with her most-famous character: spirit.
“What was revealed was a woman of mickle might, whose instincts, whetted by years of hard work in environments that were not always safe or healthy, are as finely honed as any I’ve encountered,” Thompson continued. “She has the courage of a small lion, the stamina of a Welsh pit pony and the soul of a clown. A powerhouse to watch and an ally to die for.”
Sounds quite a bit like the Mother of Dragons, but for many fans that won’t come too much as a surprise. Late last month, Clarke revealed that she very nearly was forced to quit Game of Thrones early on due to a terrifying medical condition that nearly cost her her life.
“Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life. I’ve never told this story publicly, but now it’s time,” Clarke wrote in a New Yorker article revealing that she had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) — a type of stroke caused by bleeding into the space around the brain, a condition that kills one third of patients afflicted.
“I remember being told that I should sign a release form for surgery,” she wrote. “Brain surgery? I was in the middle of my very busy life — I had no time for brain surgery. For the next three hours, surgeons went about repairing my brain. This would not be my last surgery, and it would not be the worst. I was twenty-four years old.”
Clarke went on to reveal that she not only spent the filming of Game of Thrones‘ second season worrying that she would die, but that she also ended up having to have an invasive second surgery to further correct the issue. Clarke has since come out the other side to talk about her experience — all the while remaining in her role for Game of Thrones.
And fans will soon find out how her character fares. The HBO series kicked off its final season last Sunday.
Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
What do you think about Clarke being honored on the Time 100? Let us know in the comments below.
