Emilia Clarke Aneurysms

Emilia Clarke opened up about the harrowing medical experiences she went through while filming Game of Thrones in a recent interview with BBC Sunday Morning. The Me Before You actress suffered from two brain aneurysms, one in 2011 and another in 2013.

“It was the most excruciating pain,” she said, adding that it was “incredibly helpful to have Game of Thrones sweep me up and give me that purpose.”

Clarke continued, “The amount of my brain that is no longer usable, it’s remarkable that I am able to speak and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions.” She went on to explain that she’s “in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.” However, she shared that there is “quite a bit missing” from her brain.

“Strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. So the blood finds a different route to get around, but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone,” Clarke said.