Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke: Daenerys Targaryen 'saved my life'

Emilia Clarke has revealed her Game of Thrones character ''saved her life'' after she battled two aneurysms, and admits playing the Mother of Dragons forced her to get back on her feet.

The 32-year-old actress, who played Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO hit struggled with life-threatening brain injuries during the filming of seasons two and three of the show, said she's credited the role with giving her the ''strength'' to get back on her feet.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter's Roundtable series, she said: "I've been lying about this for a number of years. Every time anyone was like, 'Where do you get your strength?' I'm like, 'Heavens, I have no idea.' But [my character] and I grew together and, it's corny as hell, but she saved my life.

''The main thing that happens after you've had a brain injury - paralysis and all of that aside - is that you have fatigue, which sounds like a fancy way of saying you're tired, but it's debilitating to the point of demoralising. And you can't look someone in the eye because it brings up shame.

''Most people don't have the mother of dragons' shoes to walk in to help them get out of it, and those are the people I speak to now.

"But for me, the show must go on, so you get back in those shoes and Khaleesi's killing all the masters, speaking to 300 people in a language that's not real and having sex with Kit Harington [who plays Jon Snow].''

Clarke says playing Daenerys, which is a role she held from the first series in 2011, has been an ''unbelievable blessing'' to her, and believes her determination to continue in the role is what made sure she didn't lose her ''cognitive skills''.

''It literally forced me awake again and to look someone in the eye because I had to. It's been an unbelievable blessing.

"And I'm so lucky to have my cognitive skills - there is a bit of my brain that's died and we don't know what it is, but it's probably my taste in men.''

Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner described the recent fan petition to have the eighth and final season of the show remade as "disrespectful".

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