The Game of Thrones HBO series has finally concluded, and while it left most fans disappointed, one thing they did find praiseworthy was the actors’ performances. Emilia Clarke who plays Daenerys Targaryen, particularly, had many moments in that final season–including that big speech she made after at King’s Landing during the last episode.
Turns out the secret to her convincing speech was that she drew inspiration from relevant historical leaders—including dictators like Adolf Hitler. “In giving all these speeches in fake languages, I watched a lot of videos of—now it seems funny—dictators and powerful leaders speaking a different language to see if I could understand what they were saying without knowing the language. And you can!” she told Variety. “You absolutely can understand what Hitler’s f*cking saying, these single-focus orators speaking a foreign language. So I thought, ‘If I can believe every single word I’m saying, the audience won’t need to be looking at the subtitles too much.’”
She also shared just how much work she put into that iconic speech scene. Apart from admitting it took her two months to memorize the whole speech, she revealed, “There was no one there, just a camera and green and an empty room. But the crew, rightly so, will be like ‘Oh God, lady speaking a fake language.’ So there’s a kind of disconnect there. I knew I had to be completely and utterly prepared to make an utter fool of myself.” Turns out she didn’t have to worry about that. Her preparation proved effective, she actually nailed it on the first take—no rehearsal.
Now that’s great acting.
Photo courtesy of @sophietss’ Instagram account
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