Emilia Clarke entered the public eye less than a decade ago but already has an undeniably impressive resume. She is best known for her breakout performance in HBO’s critically acclaimed fantasy series Game of Thrones, based on the work of author George R.R. Martin. Clarke plays Daenerys Targaryen, also known as the “mother of dragons.” She is one of the central characters as well as a fan favorite. Outside of the series, she has had few performances so far, but many of them have been high-profile. Namely, she’s had crucial roles in recent entries into both the Terminator and Star Wars franchises. Undoubtedly, her career is on the rise. Until then, here are her best performances to date.
Game of Thrones (2011 to Present)
Game of Thrones has been an unprecedented television event. The show portrays a gigantic fantasy world with nearly countless characters and filming locations. Each episode costs millions of dollars to produce. It takes place in the fictional continents Westeros and Essos where its residents live in a sort of medieval society with regards to both social structure and technological advancement. A main feature of the show is that characters — even main ones — are frequently killed off in an effort to produce a sort of realism to the fantasy show. Clarke is a significant player in the show as Daenerys, the aforementioned mother of dragons. Fans of hers and fantasy at large should check it out.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
In the Star Wars franchise anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story, the mysterious past of swindler-slash-spaceship pilot Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and his companion Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) is finally revealed. The film details, among other things, how he met “Chewie” and how they came into possession of the fastest ship in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon. It also reveals how he met his friend/enemy Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Clarke plays Qi’ra, a romantic partner of Han’s from his home planet of Corellia. While the story is not all that fresh, the cinematography is truly great—though many theaters’ projectors failed to do it justice. It is a fun and light film for any fan of the galaxy far, far away.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Like any franchise that deals with time travel, the Terminator series has gotten pretty convoluted. By nature, nothing is set in stone, just about anything can happen. Terminator Genisys, the fifth film of the series, looks a lot like the first film—with some small but critical changes. In the year 2029, an AI called Skynet has enslaved humanity. A man named John Connor (Jason Clarke) leads a cell of human freedom fighters. Skynet sends a T-800 model Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back to 1984 to kill Sarah, John’s mother, so that she can never give birth to him and the resistance he leads. To combat the Terminator, John sends his right-hand man Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) to 1984 as well, to protect Sarah. The similarities stop there because when Kyle arrives, he finds that Sarah is already accompanied by an aging T-800 she calls “Pops.” While the dialogue leaves something to be desired, the film is pure science fiction spectacle.
Dom Hemingway (2013)
In Dom Hemingway, Jude Law plays the eponymous safecracker. Having served his time in prison, Dom is looking to get paid by his boss for keeping his mouth shut while incarcerated. He is also looking to reconcile with his loved ones — namely his estranged daughter Evelyn (Clarke), as well as her husband and son. While the film is not particularly unique or noteworthy with regards to its story, both Clarke and Law give performances worthy of recognition in this black comedy.
Voice from a Stone (2017)
Voice from a Stone is a post-war period piece which takes place in Italy. Following the death of his mother Malvina, a young boy named Jakob refuses to speak. His father hires a nurse named Verena (Clarke) to take care of him, hoping it will help get the boy to speak again. Verena, once she arrives at their grand manor, finds that the home has been in Malvina’s family’s possession for more than a millennium. If not literally, then at least figuratively, Malvina haunts the home. While the film performed poorly at the box office, Clarke’s strong performance holds the film together.
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