Named Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke, the actress rose to fame with her mega dramatic stint in Game of Thrones. Although Thrones wasn’t her first stint, it definitely put her on the map. Emilia is an English actress who studied at the Drama Centre London. She made appearances in a number of stage productions, including one by the Company of Angels. Emilia has diverse theatre, TV and film background. She has done films in both the US and the UK. Even though her films aren’t that many, only eight, for now, she has done a fantastic job with each of these. However, her portrayal of Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys wasn’t loved as much by the fans. We shall include Game of Thrones in the list as well, because what is an Emilia post without the mention of Thrones. The rest are movies, rated according to IMDb. So here we go with the list!
Game of Thrones (9.3)
Genre: Fantasy/Drama. What is the lore of Game of Thrones without Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen? A speck of dirt, we’d say. We say it was because she didn’t make it alive, thanks Jon Snow you Weiner! Emilia played Daenerys, the matriarch and the only female member of House Targaryen, the biggest and the noblest of Westerosi families. It was the Targareyns who united the nine noble families to form one kingdom and one realm. They came from Valeria, they tamed dragons, build King’s Landing (the place of the king) and they interbed for thousands for years. Until there came a time when the Northerners (Starks), the Lannisters, and the Baratheons rebelled against the thrones to overthrow Dany’s father, the mad king. Daenerys and her brother Viserys survived, while the eldest, crown prince Rhaegar died on the trident. Daenerys was sold, chained, brokered but then came her dragons and she ruled over the whole of Essos. Until she set sail to Westeros to take the Iron Throne. Before D&D turned her into the mad queen without any pacing, what so ever, Daenerys ruled the hearts of women across the globe, including Beyonce. And guess what, she still does.
Me Before You (7.4)
Genre: Romance/Comedy Me Before You stars Emilia Clarke and Sam Clafin in the lead roles. Oh and Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) stars in the movie as well. He plays a blue-eyed man with a benevolent heart though. But enough about him, this is an Emilia appreciation post. Emilia is Lou, a chirpy, spirited young girl. She comes from a relatively quieter town in England. Her families need the money and she’s laid off. So she sets out to seek the first job that’s available. She ventures into hospice, agreeing to take care of a paralyzed man. The man is Sam’s Will Traynor, who once was a successful and happy banker and a fiance. He suffered from a motorcycle accident. Lou arrives just in time to make Will a happy man and he does the same for her. Until she learns Will has decided to end his life by euthanasia. The film was riddled with controversies, but it did garner $208 million. So, who are we kidding? Additionally, Emilia and Sam have magnetic chemistry!
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.9)
Genre: Historical/Action/Thriller Solo joins a group of space smugglers. They set out for the planet Kessel to snatch coaxium. The movie stars Emilia, Alden Ehrenreich, and Woody Harrelson in the lead roles. Emilia plays Han’s former flame, Qi’Ra. Woody played his mentor Tobias. We learn that Qi’Ra and Solo grew up together. Solo: A Star Wars Story was riddled with bad reviews, but longtime fans had their moment with the movie. The movie tanked at the box office, as well. I mean who would want to watch the story of a galaxy that has hyper fuel in high demand. Solo jumps in to orchestrate the biggest heist within the criminal underworld has ever seen. The movie didn’t belong to Emilia, so the blame is hardly on her. Solo: A Star Wars Story was directed by Ron Howard.
Last Christmas (6.6)
Genre: Romance/Comedy Those of you who haven’t seen Last Christmas don’t have the right to call yourselves fans of Clarke! Emma Thompson also stars in the movie as Emilia’s (Kate) mother. She stars opposite Henry Golding in the movie, themed over Christmas and George Michael’s song, ‘Last Christmas.’ The band is Wham! just in case you are wondering! But who hasn’t heard the pop song, Last Christmas? Right? Emilia plays an Elf, Kate, a Christmas retail worker who falls for a mystery man, Tom (Golding). He comes and goes before she confronts to leave him forever. Turns out Kate has had an accident, she’d had a heart transplant and Tom was the one who literally gave her his heart. What a perfect usage of the song. Additionally, Kate is a hot mess, her parents are migrants, her sister is a successful lawyer and a lesbian. So the movie tackles major themes in one go! Last Christmas premiered in November 2019. It got mixed reviews and it did okay at the box office. It grossed over $53 million dollars against a budget estimated to be between $25 million and $30 million.
Terminator Genisys (6.4)
Genre: Action/Sci-fi Emilia didn’t make such a great Sarah Connor. But she did make an earnest attempt at this one! Additionally, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J. K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi, Matt Smith, Courtney B. Vance, and Lee Byung-hun also star in the movie. By now, you must have correctly guessed that it was Terminator’s 2015 reboot. The genre of this movie is sci-fic (no surprises there, really) It is based on the resistance leader, John Connor who sends a soldier back into time to save his mama. It is 1984 and the leader’s mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke) has grown into a fierce fighter. She needs no saving from the assassination. However, there is a newer nemesis that awaits them all. Fractured timeline and unexpected events make the movie a thrill to watch! Terminator Genisys was loved by old fans of the Terminator franchise. So all in all, it was a win-win for the actress!
Spike Island (6.3)
Genre: Romance/Musical The story deals with teenage musicians (Elliott Tittensor and Nico Mirallegro who travel to England’s Spike Island. They hope to attend an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses. Emilia plays the role of Sally in the movie. Spike Island also went unnoticed. It was directed by Mat Whitecross and written by Chris Coghill.
Dom Hemingway (6.2)
Genre: British black comedy–crime drama It was directed and written by Richard Shepard. Dom Hemingway stars Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demián Bichir and Emilia Clarke in the lead roles. The story is mostly about the safecracker Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) who is released after 12 years of serving time. He wants money refusing to rat out his boss Ivan Fontaine (Demián Bichir). So his best friend, Dickie (Richard E. Grant) helps him on the adventure.Emilia plays Dom’s estranged daughter, Evelyn, mommy of a son, Jawara.
Above Suspicion (5.8)
Genre: Thriller Not so long ago, only in 2019 came Above Suspicion. It is one of those movies that came and went and no one really took notice. It is a thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce. It stars Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston in the lead roles. Above Suspicion is based on Joe Sharkey’s nonfiction book of the same name. The premise of the movie is pretty basic, an FBI agent is assigned to a small town in Kentucky which leads to a huge scandal. He gets involved with a local woman. The rest of the cast included Thora Birch as Jolene, Johnny Knoxville as Cash, Brian Lee Franklin as Rufus, Luke Spencer Roberts as Bones, Sophie Lowe as Kathy Putnam, Kevin Dunn as Bob Singer, Chris Mulkey as Todd Eason, Omar Benson Miller as Denver Rhodes and Brittany O’Grady as Georgia Beale.
Voice From The Stone (5.2)
Genre: Psychological Thriller This one’s a tad bit different from the rest of the list, for it is a supernatural psychological thriller. Voice From The Stone is directed by Eric D. Howell and written by Andrew Shaw. It is based on Silvio Raffo’s novel which goes by the same name. It was shot across Italy. The story is about a young patient of a female psychologist, who has made a promise to the dying mother to remain silent until her spirit returns. The story is a little too difficult to follow, hence the bad reviews. Voice From The Stone stars Emilia Clarke, Marton Csokas, Caterina Murino, Remo Girone, Lisa Gastoni, and Edward George Dring.
