Television
Why Emilia Clarke hasn’t watched ‘House of the Dragon’
After making her name on HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’, Emilia Clarke says she hasn’t watched a minute of the prequel.
Although HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ brought in millions of viewers during its first season, it looks as though Emilia Clarke isn’t one of them.
The series opener aired on Aug. 21, 2022 with close to 10 million people tuning in for the network’s return to Westeros. Those numbers continued to grow as the series went along, with the show seemingly able to win over critics as well after winning Best Television Series (Drama) at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards.
The show, which depicts events leading up to the beginning of the decline of House Targaryen and the war of succession known as the “Dance of Dragons”, isn’t much watch for everyone it seems.
Clarke - who played Daenerys Targaryen for all eight seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ - says she hasn’t watched a single minute despite it following her character’s ancestors.
“No! Can you [forgive me]?,” Clarke told Variety at the VarietyStudio presented by Audible at Sundance. “It’s too weird. I’m so happy it’s happening. I’m over the moon about all the awards… I just can’t do it. It’s so weird. It’s so strange.
“It’s kind of like someone saying, ‘You want to go to this school reunion that’s not your year? Want to go to that school reunion?’ That’s how it feels. I’m avoiding it.”
Although she’s no longer interested in watching the latest happenings in Westeros, Clarke’s time on Game of Thrones proved fruitful, as she was nominated for four Emmy Awards and three Critics’ Choice Awards for her performance.
‘House of Dragon’ proving to be a big hit
Clarke may not be interested in watching ‘House of the Dragon’, but HBO’s decision to return to the world that George R.R. Martin created has proven to be the correct one.
The network wasted no time in renewing the series four days after its debut, at which point over 20 million people had watched it across all platforms in the U.S.
The finale, ‘The Black Queen’, was watched by 9.3 million viewers across all platforms, making it the most watched season finale for an HBO show since the series finale of ‘Game of Thrones’ back in 2019.