Warning: spoilers for Game Of Thrones below.
Emilia Clarke studied speeches given by dictators, including Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler, to help her prepare for that epic address she gave as Daenerys Targaryen in the final episode of Game Of Thrones.
The actress said she “watched a lot of videos” of dictators and powerful leaders speaking in different languages ahead of giving the speech in Dothraki and Valyrian to her character’s army from the steps of the Red Keep.
Emilia wanted “to see if I could understand what they were saying without knowing the language,” she revealed in an interview with Variety.
“And you can!” she continued. “You absolutely can understand what Hitler’s fucking saying, these single-focus orators speaking a foreign language.”
It calmed Emilia’s nerves about the speech ― which she described as “one of the most solidifying, integral moments” for her character ― because “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 added.
And despite enduring a sleepless and tearful night ahead of filming the scene (which actually took place in front of a green screen), Emilia said she nailed it on the first attempt.
Earlier this week, Emilia revealed what she would have changed about the controversial final series, which has been met with a mixed reaction from fans.
Speaking after over a million signatures were gathered on a fan petition to remake the final episodes with “more competent writers”, she told the New Yorker, Emilia said: “Well, I can only speak to my own character, and the people that I interact with on the show. But I would’ve loved some more scenes with me and Missandei.
“I would’ve loved some more scenes with me and Cersei. I would’ve loved some more scenes between Grey Worm and Missandei. I would’ve loved to see a bit more between Cersei... I feel like there was... The genocide was there. That was always going to happen.”
She continued: “And I just think more dissection and those beautifully written scenes that the boys have between characters — that we are more than happy to contently sit there and watch ten minutes of two people talking, because it’s beautiful.
“I just wanted to see a bit more of that.”