It was 2011. A 23-year-old drama school graduate named Emilia Clarke had just landed the role of a lifetime. She was Daenerys Targaryen. The Mother of Dragons. But before the dragons, before the world-conquering armies, there were the scripts. And in those scripts? A "fuck ton of nudity." Honestly, that’s exactly how she described it later.
She was terrified.
Looking back from 2026, the conversation around emilia clarke sex scenes has shifted from tabloid gossip to a serious case study on actor agency and the evolution of Hollywood’s "intimacy" standards. At the time, she felt she had no choice. She was a kid, basically. She’d been on exactly two film sets before being told to strip in front of dozens of crew members. She didn’t know how to say no, or even if she was allowed to.
The Reality of the Game of Thrones Set
People often forget how raw those early seasons of Game of Thrones were. For Emilia, the experience wasn't some glamorous Hollywood production; it was a steep, often painful learning curve. She has since admitted to crying in the bathroom before filming certain sequences. She’d then dry her eyes, walk back out, and do the job because she thought that was what being a professional meant.
"I’m floating through this first season and I have no idea what I’m doing," she told Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast. "I don’t know what’s expected of me."
There was a specific power imbalance at play. When you're the new girl on the biggest show on television, you don't want to "rock the boat." You don't want to be the "difficult" one. So, when the script called for her to be sold, raped, or displayed, she did it. She genuinely believed that if it was in the script, it was necessary for the story.
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The Jason Momoa Factor
Thankfully, she wasn't entirely alone. Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo, became her unexpected protector. He was the experienced one. He was the one who would see her shivering and shout, "Can we get her a fucking robe?"
Momoa’s role in this is actually pretty huge. He taught her that she was "worthy of requiring anything." He was often crying more than she was during their more traumatic scenes together because he knew, even if she didn't yet, that the situation was intense. He made sure she knew her boundaries. Without him, the early days of emilia clarke sex scenes could have been much more damaging to her psyche.
Why She Eventually Said "Fuck You"
As the seasons progressed, Emilia grew up. She found her voice. By the time the later seasons rolled around, she was a global superstar, and she started using that leverage.
The most famous story involves a fight on a subsequent set—not Thrones, but a different project. A director or producer tried to push her into doing a nude scene that wasn't previously agreed upon. Their argument? "You don't want to disappoint your Game of Thrones fans."
Her response? "Fuck you."
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She had become "savvy." She realized that her past work didn't give everyone a permanent "all-access pass" to her body. This is where the industry really failed her for a while—the assumption that because she had been naked on HBO, she should be fine with it anywhere, anytime. It’s a classic case of pigeonholing that she had to fight tooth and nail to break.
Empowerment vs. Gratuitousness
It’s a mistake to think Emilia regrets every nude scene. She doesn't. She’s actually quite proud of some of them. Take the Season 6 "Vaes Dothrak" scene where she emerges from the burning temple.
- It wasn't sexual. It was a moment of absolute power.
- She refused a body double. She wanted it to be her.
- It was a choice. This is the key difference.
"That ain't no body double!" she famously told Entertainment Weekly. In that moment, the nudity wasn't something being done to her; it was a tool she was using to show Daenerys’s rebirth. She distinguishes between "sex scenes" and "nude scenes" that forward the story. If it’s just for the "pervert side of the audience" (as one Thrones director once described the executive pressure), she’s out.
The Fifty Shades of Grey Rejection
Nothing proves her stance more than her turning down the lead role in Fifty Shades of Grey. It would have been a massive payday. A huge franchise. But she walked away. Why? Because she was sick of being asked about nudity.
She knew that if she took that role, she’d never hear the end of it. Every interview for the rest of her life would be about her body. She wanted to be known for her acting, her range, and her "eyebrows," as she often jokes. By saying no to Anastasia Steele, she drew a line in the sand that defined her career post-Westeros.
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Navigating the Modern Gaze
Today, in 2026, the industry uses Intimacy Coordinators. These are professionals whose entire job is to make sure what happened to Emilia in Season 1 never happens to anyone else. They choreograph the scenes like stunts. They ensure consent is explicit and ongoing.
Emilia’s honesty about her "terrifying" experiences was a major catalyst for this change. She pulled back the curtain on the "cool girl" myth—the idea that actresses should just be "up for anything" without complaint.
The Takeaway for the Industry
Looking at the history of emilia clarke sex scenes, we see a clear evolution:
- Vulnerability: A young actor doing what she's told because she thinks she has to.
- Recognition: Realizing that some of the "requirements" were actually just executive "perversion" or "sexposition."
- Resistance: Learning to say "no" and fighting for boundaries on set.
- Ownership: Using nudity as a deliberate, non-sexual power move on her own terms.
What You Can Do Next
If you’re interested in how the industry has changed since the Game of Thrones era, the best thing to do is look into the work of Intimacy Coordinators.
You should check out the SAG-AFTRA guidelines on "Simulated Sex and Nudity." It’s fascinating to see how the rules Emilia had to fight for are now standard protocol. Understanding the "power imbalance" she talked about helps us appreciate the performances more, knowing the human cost that sometimes went into them.
Next time you watch a heavy drama, pay attention to the credits. Look for an Intimacy Coordinator. Their presence is a direct result of actors like Emilia Clarke standing up and saying that the old way of doing things just wasn't okay.