Posted in: Game Of Thrones, HBO, TV | Tagged: game of thrones

Game of Thrones Star Emilia Clarke Doesn't See Dragons in Her Future

Emilia Clarke (Ponies) reflects on her role as Daenerys Targaryen on HBO's Game of Thrones and having had her fill of dragons.

Published Fri, 16 Jan 2026 07:37:06 -0600

by Tom Chang

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Article Summary

Emilia Clarke reflects on her Game of Thrones fame and her iconic role as Daenerys Targaryen.
Clarke rules out returning to the Game of Thrones universe or working with dragons again.
Since the series ended, Clarke has branched into different genres, including Marvel and Star Wars.
She shares her thoughts on moving forward while promoting her new Cold War drama Ponies for Peacock.

You can add Emilia Clarke to the list of Game of Thrones actors not having any interest in revisiting their original role in any future project. Joining Kit Harington, who's also happy to retire from the series (for now), Clarke played the protagonist, Daenerys Targaryen, who had the series' biggest fall from grace, twisting from benevolent, righteous, destined ruler of the Seven Kingdoms to a bitter tyrant who burned her way to the Iron Throne with the blood of innocents riding her dragon and sacking King's Landing in the HBO series' finale. Granted, Clarke's character meets her end thanks to Harington's Jon Snow's regicide at the end of his blade, but it wouldn't make much narrative sense to return to George R. R. Martin's universe unless it's playing a different character. While promoting her latest Cold War-era drama, Ponies for Peacock, Clark answered the inevitable question about her fame on Game of Thrones and her seemingly disinterest in the high fantasy genre.

Game of Thrones Star Emilia Clarke: No More Dragons After HBO Series — Image: HBO

Game of Thrones: Clarke: No More Dragon-Oriented Roles for Me

"There was never any time to stop and consider the meaning of it," Clarke, who appeared in 62 of the series 74 episodes, told The New York Times of her GOT fame. "I never had the foresight to think, 'You're going to want to take a minute.'" Since the David Benioff and D.B. Weiss-created series ended in 2019, the actress has expanded her repertoire of genres and media from doing a few Christmas-oriented projects, performing at the National Theatre for its production of The Seagull, rom-coms, launching her comic, and haven't even shied away from big-budget franchises with her appearance in the MCU Disney+ TV series Secret Invasion joining other GOT alum who have made their leap to Marvel like Richard Madden and Harington. Before Thrones' end, Clarke was also in Terminator Genisys (2015) and Disney's other major IP, Star Wars for Solo (2018).

Game of Thrones: Snoop Dogg Swears Fealty to Emilia Clarke's Daenarys — Emilia Clarke in "Game of Thrones." Image courtesy of HBO

As far as Clarke's leftover feelings as a Targaryen, "You're highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even in the same frame as a dragon, ever again," she said, which is understandable with the character's maligned ending and subsequent fan backlash. For more on her life and role in the Susanna Fogel and David Iserson-created spy thriller Ponies, which also stars Haley Lu Ricardson, you can check out the full interview. All eight episodes are available on Peacock.

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