Emilia Clarke shares battle with health amid "Game of Thrones" fame

Emilia Clarke was a star of Game of Thrones. The final season had an average audience of 44 million people. The actress revealed that during her time on the series, she suffered two strokes. She was afraid that the creators of the hit would remove her from the cast.

Emilia Clarke's health problems have been known for some time. The actress admitted that at the age of 24, she suffered a stroke. It was 2011. The incident occurred during an exercise session. Suddenly, she felt pressure in her head and nausea: "Meanwhile, the pain—shooting, stabbing, constricting pain—was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged." Clarke had to undergo life-saving surgery. Afterward, she learned she had an aneurysm that the doctors decided not to remove at that time. Two years later, she had another life-threatening situation.

The first stroke occurred shortly after Clarke finished work on the first season of "Game of Thrones." As she recalls, the stroke left her unable to speak for a while, and she nearly fell into a coma. The second stroke occurred later—the aneurysm had grown twice as large. Today, Emilia admits that according to the statistics known to her doctors, she is one of the few people who have survived such situations without significant consequences.

"When you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight," says Clarke in an interview with "Big Issue." She admitted that she was sure she would be fired. "Oh my god, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I'm not capable of completing the job?" she recalls.

Interestingly, the actress admitted earlier that she feared losing her job and professional failure more than death. "If I’m being brutally honest, the whole thing made me feel very ashamed, like I was broken. As though the producers must think I’m an unreliable person that they’ve hired," she recalled in an interview with "Harper's Bazaar".

"I’m so much more aware of what’s happening, in the moment that it’s happening. I don’t worry about failure – I thrive on failure! If something goes wrong, I always think you can fix it. It hurts, it’s scary, but then you can do anything," Clarke commented.

At the beginning of this year, Emilia and her mother, Jenny, were awarded the Order of the British Empire by King Charles III for their contributions to health protection. Remember that Clarke—although she feared losing her job at the HBO production very much—filmed seven more seasons. "Game of Thrones" became a global hit after the first season. The final edition was watched by an average of 44 million viewers from around the world.