Emila Clarke: Game of Thrones gave me a family and an identity

Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection may not be out for another week, but the internet has already gotten its hands on a bunch of the special features, from deleted scenes to History and Lore mini-documentaries. There’s also a clip of a teary Emilia Clarke, still in costume as Daenerys Targaryen, explaining how important the show was to her personally. Grab a tissue and watch below:

"[SPOILERS] Emilia signs off for the final time as Daenerys Targaryen (From the box set) from gameofthrones"

“What I realized the other day is the show has given me more than just a job, it’s literally given me a family, it’s given me an identity that I didn’t have,” Clarke said. “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to play someone like this and so she’s been such a savior for me in so many ways.”

Clarke goes on to thank showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss for hiring her, and heaped praise upon the crew. “I have the most hard-working crew. I keep saying it, but I mean it so much. They work harder than anyone. And the fans have given me a platform and given me hope. Thank you to all these people I don’t know, it’s amazing.”

And there are more behind-the-scenes videos going around. The Sun describes one called “When Winter Falls,” where Clarke talks about Daenerys’ state of mind during the Battle of Winterfell in “The Long Night.”

"In the actual battle itself, Dany’s impatient to get in there. She’s like, gunning for a fight. She’s ready to take this guy down. She’s a fierce warrior, although you don’t see a lot of hand-to-hand combat with her, she’s ready to fight to the death."

According to Clarke, that feeling leads into Daenerys’ choice to burn thousands of innocent people, including women and children, in King’s Landing a couple episodes later. “Especially at this point, there’s a lot of anger – she’s got all of that in her to put into this fight,” Clarke explained. “It’s not just the matter at hand, but I think because of everything at an emotional level that’s gone on, she’s able to go into her cold-blooded side.”

Both Game of Thrones: The Complete Series and the season 8 home boxset hit shelves on December 3.

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h/t Metro