How Emilia Clarke kept her battle with brain aneurysms secret while filming Game of Thrones

Vulture

A new excerpt from James Hibberd's upcoming Game of Thrones book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon reveals that only a select few people knew about Clarke's health issues. "It was terrifying because this amazing, sweet, wonderful human being came this close to not being around anymore — this person we loved so much after just one year," says co-creator D.B. Weiss. "Obviously you need to make the show, but the important thing was making sure she was in a safe situation. You ask yourself: Is she as safe doing this show as if she was not doing it? If she was home sitting on her couch? She was so gung ho; the main thing for us was making sure she wouldn’t put herself (in dangerous situations). She would say, 'Yeah, I just had brain surgery, and if I need to gallop on a horse down a mountainside, I’ll do it.' You would have to tell her no, because she would never say no." Clarke adds: "If I had called my doctor, he would have been like, 'Dude, you just need to chill out.' But I still felt blind fear, and the fear was making me panic, and the panic was leading me to feel like I’m going to pass out in the desert. So they brought in an air-conditioned car for me — sorry, planet."