Game of Thrones: Why Emilia Clarke Cut Off Her Hair After Series Ended

There were a lot of iconic elements in Game of Thrones, but perhaps one of the most memorable is Daenerys Targaryen's hair. The character's platinum blonde locks remain a defining feature of the character, one that is much-copied and cosplayed by fans. But for series star Emilia Clarke, while she wore a wig to achieve that intensely light color of hair, when the show ended she cut off her own hair, and in a new interview with InStyle, she reveals it's because she decided to match her real hair to Daenerys's for the final season and the bleaching process lead to disastrous results for her own natural hair.

In the interview, Clarke revealed that she bleached her real hair for the final season, but it left her hair so damaged that she had to cut it all off to let it grow back out – and she has no plans to ever cut her hair again.

"I decided to bleach my hair blonde because I wanted it to be Daenerys's color for the last season," Clarke said. "My hair was so fried that I basically had to cut it all off like a proper Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo + Juliet boy cut. Now my hair has naturally grown out. I give it more nourishment than you could possibly imagine. It's my proudest achievement, and I don't plan on cutting it ever again. I'm going to be 90 with it down to my bum -- that's my plan."

Clarke played Daenerys for all eight seasons of Game of Thrones and, bleached hair in the final season aside, it was a wig that did the work for the character's iconic and complex braided styles. While that sounds like it might not have been the most enjoyable aspect of things with Clarke spending hours in the hair and makeup chair for the series, she also explained that she does miss the wig, noting that it "did wonders."

"That wig did wonders -- bloody hell," Clarke said. "It was like walking around with a permanent bounce. I was reminiscing with Kit [Harington] the other day about the hours we pulled and how hard the work was. There's a grieving process that goes on after the show, obviously, but I think we are now both finally at the point where we can say, 'What bits do we miss?' It's kind of like remembering a friendship."

Game of Thrones is currently streaming on HBO Max.