'Game of Thrones' star Emilia Clarke turned down 'Fifty Shades of Grey' role because she was tired of being asked about nudity
It was very early on in 'Game of Thrones' that Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen, bared it all on screen. However, the actress recently opened up about turning down the role of Anastasia Steele in 'Fifty Shades of Grey' for the very same reason.
As part of The Hollywood Reporter's Drama Actress roundtable with Michelle Williams, Patricia Arquette, Christine Baranski, Danai Gurira and Niecy Nash, the 32-year-old actress was asked about turning down the role for the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' adaptation.
While the 'Game of Thrones' star was all praises for director Sam Taylor-Johnson calling her a "magician", she simply did not want to get naked for the camera once again.
"Well, Sam [Taylor-Johnson, the director] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on ['Game of Thrones'] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman," Clarke said.
"And it's annoying as hell and I'm sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn't do it so some guy could check out my t*ts, for God's sake," Clarke clarified and added, "So, that coming up, I was like, 'I can't'. I did a minimal amount and I'm pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff. I was just like, 'No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation' and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, 'No, you can't keep asking me the question'."
And so, the role of Anastasia Steele finally went to Dakota Johnson, with Jamie Dornan taking the Christian Grey role after Charlie Hunnam signed on and then backed out.
'Fifty Shades of Grey' hit theatres in 2015 and earned $166.1 million domestic and $571 million worldwide, but the subsequent sequels 'Fifty Shades Darker' ($114.5 million domestic/$381.5 million worldwide) and 'Fifty Shades Freed' ($100.4 million domestic/$371.9 million worldwide) both underperformed.
To add to this, Clarke said that she doesn't want to do any film role that would require her to do a sequel.
"One thing I would not like to do is something that would have a sequel. Something that could have, like, 'And then two and then three and then four.' I'd like to not do one of those for a minute."
Clarke's hit series 'Game of Thrones' closed out its epic eight-season run with a record-breaking finale — with a series-high 19.3 million viewers tuning in live on HBO Go or HBO Now.
The 13.6 million who tuned in live on HBO broke a record for the most-watched single telecast in HBO history — surpassing the previous benchmark that was 13.4 million people tuning in to 'The Sopranos' premiere in 2002.
The final episode of 'Game of Thrones' averaged 44.2 million viewers per episode, an increase of over 10 million viewers per episode higher than the seventh season.
If you have an entertainment scoop or a story for us, please reach out to us on (323) 421-7515
