Nathalie Emmanuel on her friendship with Emilia Clarke: “She’s such a beast”

For six seasons of Game of Thrones, Nathalie Emmanuel stood by Emilia Clarke’s side as the loyal friend and adviser to Daenerys Targaryen, Missandei of Naath. With that amount of time spent together, a friendship was bound to develop, as Emmanuel recalled when speaking to People. “Emilia, as a friend and colleague, is just such a joy,” she said. “I really have thoroughly loved working with her. I loved learning from her. And we just check in with each other every so often.”

Before the final season of the show premiered back in April, Clarke revealed that she suffered multiple brain aneurysms during her early days on the show. Clarke didn’t tell the public about the surgeries until long after they happened, but people on set knew. “I remember coming back to work and hearing about [her surgeries] and being like, ‘Wow, it’s just so crazy and there you are, ready to go back to work,’” Emmanuel recalled.

"She’s such a beast. As a woman, she really picks herself up and keeps going. She’s really inspiring, I’m so proud of her. And then what she’s chosen to do with that experience, to help other people, is so amazing and I’m just incredibly happy for her and how important her work is."

On a sadder note, Emmanuel opened up about her feelings regarding her character’s sudden death at the hands of the Mountain. “I basically cried my eyes out when I read [the script],” she remembered. “To be honest with you, I was sort of expecting it to an extent, but I’ve expected it with every season. And I think that finally I was like, ‘Oh, she’s gone. That’s sad because of how much I love her and how much I love playing her.’”

At least Emmanuel can say she lasted until close to the end. And that wasn’t the only solace Emmanuel found in Missandei’s brutal death. “She definitely went out with strength and she went out with a ferocity that we probably hadn’t seen from her before. I was very proud of her journey throughout the show.”

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As for the overall ending of the series, Emmanuel remains positive in the face of the fan uproar that surrounded the series’ controversial ending.

"Reading the final episode, I felt hopeful when I read it, I felt slightly hopeful. I thought, ‘This sounds like the beginnings of democracy in Westeros.’ It’s such a hard plane to land at the end of the day, because everybody, they’re all very wrapped up in the characters and stories. Everyone has their favorite. No one is going to love everything that you do. And whilst keeping everybody happy, I just didn’t see that as being possible. But I think that they ended it in such a lovely way. I’m very proud of it."

Now that Game of Thrones is well and truly wrapped, Emmanuel has moved on to something completely different as the lead in a show based on Four Weddings and a Funeral over on Hulu. No beheadings there…we think.

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