Game of Thrones Star Emilia Clarke Fought Showrunners Over Making Daenerys Too Cold

The new Game of Thrones book, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series, by James Hibberd is now available for purchase and it has taught us some interesting behind-the-scenes facts. We discovered Maisie Williams was disappointed in the fact that Arya did not get to kill Cersei (Lena Headey). Thanks to a recent recap from Insider, we also learned that Emilia Clarke didn’t want Daenerys Targaryen to just be “cold and expressionless.”

“There was a number of times I was like, ‘Why are you giving me that note?’” Clarke shared. “While I am quite consistently a ‘How can I help?’ kind of person, there were a few moments where I was like, ‘Don’t tell me what to do with my girl. I know what to do!’”

Clarke added, “It’s like Daenerys’ calling card became cold expressionlessness. I always wanted to infuse that with some humanity because no one’s consistently like that. I would sometimes fight back a little: ‘I get that she has to be steely and unforgiving and a powerful force. But in this moment she’s also a g*ddamn human being. So I’m going to give you that and I really pray that you take that in the edit.’”

Clarke wasn’t the only person who occasionally fought for their character. The book also reveals that Liam Cunningham fought against Ser Davos having a crush on Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel).

“When we first meet Daenerys, Benioff and [director Mark Mylod] wanted Davos to have a crush on Missandei. And I fought them,” Cunningham shared. “I’m not f*cking doing it. It’s the only thing I ever stood up to them on. The woman is a goddess, but with Davos’ history with Lyanna Mormont and Shireen, you can’t have him getting the hots for a young woman.”

While the Game of Thrones prequel series starring Noami Watts was scrapped, HBO’s House of the Dragon is moving right along. In fact, this Game of Thrones prequel has found its leading man. Paddy Considine has been cast as King Viserys Targaryen, a character described as a “warm, kind, and decent man” chosen by the lords of Westeros to rule the land. As the initial report from THR points out, his kindness could lead to his ultimate downfall considering niceness doesn’t always get you far in Westeros.

Game of Thrones is currently available to stream on all HBO platforms.