Emilia Clarke asked Game of Thrones bosses if she could change Daenerys’ posture; they said no

Emilia Clarke’s portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones made her a star. Clarke played Daenerys as regal, proud, indomitable. Whether she was riding a horse, riding a dragon or sitting a throne, you knew she was not to be messed with.

Apparently, this was something of a happy mistake on Clarke’s part, who played the character as very upright and straight-backed because she was too nervous to do anything else. “People often spoke about Khaleesi’s very straight back being very good posture. I was a terrified 22-year-old. My mama told me to sit up straight, so I did,” Clarke explained to ComicBook.com. “And then you’re stuck with it. I didn’t know I was going to go on for 10 years.”

Later in the show’s life, Clarke even tried to convince Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss to let her look a little more relaxed, maybe slouch a little, but by then it was too late. “Every time with David and Dan I’d be like, ‘What if she’s sitting in a throne like this?’ And they’re like, ‘No, you can’t.'”

Emilia Clarke applied lessons from Game of Thrones to Secret Invasion

Clarke isn’t about to lock herself into a weird shape again. You’ll soon be able to see her on Secret Invasion as the shape-shifting Skrull alien G’iah, who sits anyway she pleases. “So with G’iah, I was like, ‘She’s be nimble, she’s be flexible, she’s a mover,'” Clarke said.

Secret Invasion premieres on Disney+ on June 21.

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