'Last Christmas': Emilia Clarke convincingly transforms from the 'Mother of Dragons' into a vulnerable, struggling Kate in the holiday movie
Emilia Clarke has ruled the screen and our hearts as Daenerys Targaryen for years now. Although we have seen her in various other shades of character, her upcoming holiday movie, 'Last Christmas' is going to be extra special.
In her first movie after 'Game of Thrones' ended, she sets our expectations high. Her character Kate, however, is like nothing we have seen her portray earlier.
Even her other romantic movies (simultaneously with 'GoT') saw Clarke in a role that we would expect from an actor of her prominence. But Kate is unique, she is different, and most importantly, she exposes her raw, vulnerable side.
Imagining the indomitable mother of dragons as a young, struggling woman who's constantly down on luck, would indeed be a unique experience for her fans.
Since the trailer released, we have been debating if the plot borders on the lines of Eric Segal's 'Love Story' meets 'Ghost' with a touch of 'Casper'. But more than the story, we are also contemplating if Kate's character sketch is also taking shades of classic movie characters.
There is already enough speculation on whether Tom (Henry Golding) is a ghost and Kate (Clarke) falls in love with him. But let us move beyond and look into Kate.
As the trailer of 'Last Christmas' reveals, Kate is a 30-something woman, working as an "elf" in a year-round Christmas shop. She neither likes her job or her life. She struggles every day to drag herself to a holiday store when she doesn't believe in the spirit of Christmas anymore.
Rather, she wants to become a successful singer but she tends to fail at everything she attempts. Her thought process also isn't irrational.
Kate had a near-death experience a year ago, which led her to be what she is today, or a "mess" as she describes herself.
And one day, she bumps into Tom, a charming, young man, who rides along with Kate on her journey to rediscover the spirit of Christmas, rekindles the spirit that she lost and helps her falls in love with life all over again.
It might look or sound commonplace, but it will be a challenging spot for Clarke to shed her bold and powerful image and don the hapless, weak-hearted almost "damsel-in-distress" avatar.
She is unarguably a versatile actor but from Khaleesi to Kate is a huge leap of character portrayal. Even when we saw her in 'Me Before You', we saw her as a funny, witty, and charming Lou which Kate is not.
The Kate of 'Last Chrismas' is more of an anti-hero and is anything but perfect or lady-like. She is full of flaws and that's what makes Kate so relatable.
Her struggles to gather herself, put her life and her mind back together, and make the most of the second chance that life has given her, is what makes this character so refreshing for Clarke to portray, and for us to see the actor a whole new light.
While analyzing the probabilities of her character, we also discovered that Clarke found a real-life connect with Kate through her period of sickness.
Just like her character, Clarke also suffered from a health crisis in her twenties, which became a very intimidating period for her. Through Kate, Clarke has tried to bring out those inhibitions about the fears of living and dealing with life.
Additionally, Clarke will also treat us with her singing skills. The movie is already garnering enough attention for being named after George Michael's classic 'Last Christmas', among his other hit songs and some unreleased music.
But with Clarke singing the title track (as Kate), we are surely on for an audio-visual treat from the great Khaleesi.
'Last Christmas' is the brainchild of Academy-award winning (Dame) Emma Thompson and director Paul Feig (of 'Bridesmaid' fame). The movie will feature some of the best musical works of George Michael and Wham! including 'Everything She Wants', 'Faith', 'Fastlove Part1,' and 'Freedom!'90' among others.
Catch a glimpse of Emilia Clarke's character in the most-awaited holiday movie of the year. 'Last Christmas' drops in theaters on November 8.