Emilia Clarke, the beloved actress best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, has bravely shared her deeply personal journey of surviving two life-threatening brain aneurysms in her twenties. The 39-year-old star has revealed her struggles with shame, fear, and the emotional toll of nearly dying twice, opening up in an emotional conversation on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast.
A Fight for Her Life
In 2011, while filming the first season of Game of Thrones, Emilia, just 24 at the time, was struck by her first brain aneurysm. It happened in the middle of a workout at the gym, when she was doing a plank and felt an overwhelming pressure in her head. She recalled the experience vividly, explaining, “It felt like an elastic band snapping around my brain. This insane pressure. I was throwing up from the pain, and I knew something was seriously wrong.”
Despite the agony, Emilia pushed through, reciting lines from Game of Thrones to distract herself, desperately clinging to the belief that she was not about to lose everything she had worked for. “I just kept saying, ‘I’m an actor. I’ve got my dream job.’”
After being rushed to the hospital, Emilia was initially misdiagnosed, with doctors assuming she was on drugs due to her intense symptoms. But when a nurse married to a brain surgeon recognized the symptoms, the severity of her condition became clear: she had suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Struggling in Silence
Even after such a traumatic event, Emilia’s mind was fixated on her career. She felt an overwhelming need to keep her health a secret from HBO, fearing that if they knew the truth, they might see her as weak or unreliable. “I didn’t take care of myself at all,” she admitted, revealing that just a month after nearly dying, she returned to promoting Game of Thrones with barely any time to recover. “I was so ashamed of what had happened. I just wanted to act like it didn’t happen and keep going.”
Her second brain aneurysm came just two years later, after a routine checkup revealed that the aneurysm from her first hemorrhage had doubled in size. This time, the surgery went wrong, leaving Emilia with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. “They told my parents every half hour that they thought I was going to die, or go blind, or be paralyzed,” Emilia said, recalling the agonizing wait. She was in the “really small minority” of people who survive such a traumatic event without lasting consequences.
Despite being told by doctors that the surgery had failed, Emilia was determined to survive. “I was in agony, and I knew I was in serious danger,” she said. But somehow, after all the pain and uncertainty, she woke up to the relief that her life was spared.
The Emotional Toll
The emotional impact of her second aneurysm was profound. “I shut down emotionally,” Emilia confessed. She lived in constant fear that death was always lurking around the corner, and that she was somehow “not meant to be here.” The thought of another aneurysm constantly haunted her. “Every day, I thought I was going to die,” she shared. “It was like I was walking around knowing my brain had failed me, and no one else could see it.”
Even with the fear and uncertainty, Emilia pushed through. Just six weeks after her second life-threatening surgery, she was back promoting Game of Thrones at Comic-Con. “I kept pushing forward. Without my work, I don’t know what I would have done,” she admitted, revealing that she kept her struggles hidden from everyone around her, desperate not to appear weak.
Turning Pain Into Purpose
Emilia’s harrowing experiences led her to co-found the charity SameYou with her mother, Jenny, to raise money for people recovering from brain injuries and strokes. Their efforts were recognized in 2024, when both Emilia and Jenny were awarded MBEs for their inspirational work.
Reflecting on her journey, Emilia shared, “It’s life-enhancing and magical to see my mom recognized for her charity work. To have gone through the darkness of it all and come out the other side, we’re so lucky.”
After years of living in constant fear of her health failing again, Emilia finally feels free from the anxiety that once consumed her. “Now, when I wake up, I realize I’m not constantly thinking about my brain injury,” she said. “I get checked regularly, and everything is fine. But it’s the emotional scars that took longer to heal.”
Emilia Clarke’s journey is a testament to her strength, resilience, and determination. From nearly losing her life to finding a new purpose in helping others, she has turned her darkest moments into a force for good.
