Over the past 6 years, Game of Thrones has had the world in a frenzy with its gripping story-lines and awesome characters. Last month, the show’s final season (season 7) set the stage for its climax: the climax every GoT fan has been anticipating since the beginning. Like most series, it really is the characters that make it so entertaining and few GoT characters are as mesmerizing as the blonde-haired warrior princess, Daenerys Targaryen. Most Game of Thrones probably know everything there is to know about Targaryen but they probably know next to nothing about the woman behind Daenerys Targaryen: Emilia Clarke. Also known for her roles in Me Before You and Terminator Genisys, Emilia Clarke is a big deal in Hollywood, even though she is actually London-born. Here, 15 juicy facts about Emilia Clarke....

14 She Worked Several Jobs Before ‘’Game of Thrones’’

Natural talent is something a lot of actors may have but that doesn’t mean they can transform into a successful actor at the click of their fingers. It takes a lot of hard work. Natural talent, patience and hard, hard work. Nobody knows that better than Emilia Clarke. She may be the famous face in Game of Thrones now but it took some time and grind before it happened. Clarke was actually working six different jobs, from bartending to call center work, before she got her big break on Game of Thrones. You see, nothing comes easy. You have to work hard at everything but it’s good because it builds your inner strength and your patience. It makes you realize how much you want something and of course, Clarke really wanted to be an actress, more than anything.

13 She Turned Down The Role of Anastasia in Fifty Shades

Almost every Hollywood actress was going crazy over the role of Anastasia Steel in Fifty Shades of Grey. Most actresses would have given their right arm to have played the part. Emilia Clarke just happens to be an exception. You see, Clarke was actually offered the role of Anastasia in the Fifty Shades franchise but *gasp* she turned it down. It’s easy to see why directors saw potential in Clarke. She’s beautiful, she’s sexy, and she’s smart. Clarke just didn’t want to be typecast if she accepted the role due to her nude scenes in Game of Thrones. ‘’I’ll never say, “I’m never doing nudity” because I’ve already done it, but I thought I might get stuck in a pigeonhole that I would have struggled to get out of,’’ Clarke tells Marie Claire.

12 She Dated Seth McFarlane in 2012

Did you know that Emilia Clarke dated the comedian Seth McFarlane in 2012? Yep. The pair started dating in 2012 and split up in 2013. Sadly their long-distance relationship just didn’t work out. Clarke also opened up about the difficulties of dating someone else who is in the public eye. "Well, a con is you have strangers giving you love-life advice like, 'I'm a big fan of the show, and I'm not sure what you're doing with that guy,' which I didn't react well to," said Clarke. "That happened in New York when Seth and I were together. This guy started to give me advice: 'Can I get a selfie? And by the way…' Unh-unh, bro." You can see why it would be tough, can’t you?

11 If She Wasn’t An Actress, She’d Be This

It’s hard to imagine Emilia Clarke not playing Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. She plays the part so well. You really couldn’t imagine another actress playing the same role. But according to sources Emilia Clarke would have either become a singer of a graphic designer if she wasn’t an actress. They are two very different things, aren’t they? Ask any actor or actress and they’ll always tell you of another career choice they had as a second option just in case things didn’t work out in the acting business. You rarely hear of actors wanting to be graphic designers, though. That’s new. But if you haven’t worked it out by now, Emilia Clarke is pretty unique and not like all other actors. She’s special.

10 She Has a Tattoo From Drake’s Tattoo Artist

In honor of the new Game of Thrones movie back in 2015, Emilia Clarke decided to get a bumblebee tattoo on her little finger and it looks so cool! Maybe you’ve never noticed it before but as you can see in the picture above, it looks so cute and pretty! It’s her one and only tattoo but it’s really sweet. Even her tattoo artist, Dr Woo, who has inked Drake, referred to Emilia as ‘’Sweet and kind.’’ It’s not exactly hard to believe. And it shows you just how devoted she is to that series! To have a tattoo in honor of it, wow – that’s true movie loyalty that is. But that’s not the only surprise I’ve got in store for you about Emilia Clarke.

9 She’s a Closet Musical Genius

Acting isn’t Emilia Clarke’s only talent you know. No, she has many more talents that you may not know about like playing musical instruments, for instance. That’s right. Not only is she a superb actress, Clarke can also play piano, guitar and flute. Now that’s what you call a woman of many talents. It must be awesome to be able to play so many instruments. It would be awesome to be able to play one instrument but three instruments? Wow! You see, there is a lot more to Emilia Clarke that you probably realized. She’s not just that actress from Game of Thrones. She’s a highly talented woman who can do a lot more than acting. But music isn’t her only additional talent. She has another talent hiding up her sleeve.

8 She’s Multilingual

Yep, she is multilingual too! Emilia Clarke has not only mastered various accents and dialects of British English and US English, she can also speak three other languages: French, German and Indian. How awesome is that? Who else would love to be able to speak three languages? It would definitely be a cool skill to possess. It really is no wonder she managed to master the Dothraki language so easily. This woman clearly has talent – and a lot of it! Learning languages is never easy. It may come more naturally to some and not for others, but it is still hard work and requires a lot of determination and patience. By now you’re probably thinking Emilia Clarke has it all, but it hasn’t always been that way. She, like the rest of us, has dealt with her fair share of troubles.

7 She Was Bullied Because of Her Eyebrows

School can be a tough time for many kids. Emilia Clarke was one of those kids. In an interview with Allure, the GoT actress admitted that she actually got bullied as a child about her eyebrows. Yes, those eyebrows that women all over the world perceive as a beauty statement were precisely the target of school bullies. Even though she got bullied about them, her mom always encouraged her to embrace them. "My mom had rules when I was growing up: Don't do drugs, don't have sex, and don't touch your eyebrows,’’ she explained. ‘’So I got bullied as a kid for having ridiculous eyebrows. "She said, 'You'll be thankful when you're older,' and I am. My mom used to tell me to brush them with Vaseline when I went to bed."

6 The Heart She Ate in Game of Thrones Was a Giant Gummy Bear

Remember that super gross scene in Game of Thrones when Daenerys has to prove herself by consuming a horse’s heart? You will be pleased to hear that it wasn’t a real horse’s heart. Emilia Clarke was not obliged to eat a real horse’s heart for the scene. It was a superficial heart made out of several pounds of gummy bears. That sounds a lot tastier! Not according to the GoT actress. Emilia Clarke claims the fake heart tasted of bleach but there was no going about it. She had to it and let’s face it, it has got to be better than eating a bloody horse’s heart. Yuk! "There was no need to tell Emilia anything about how gruesome a task it was to choke down a horse heart," producer D.B Weiss says. "Apparently, eating several pounds of gummy bear heart is almost as gruesome as the real thing."

5 She Was in a Samaritans Advert

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If there is one thing you should absolutely know about Emilia Clarke it’s that she has a big heart. She might be strong and feisty, but underneath that she’s a genuinely kind and caring person. So it’s really no surprise that she appeared in a Samaritans advertisement on the TV to help raise donations for the charity. It was around the time she graduated and was actually her first ever on-screen appearance. She’d already played numerous roles in plays at Drama Centre London and St. Edwards College but this was her first time on TV and it was a big deal for Clarke. After this she appeared in a short film produced by University of London students. Not long after, she landed her role in the awesome Game of Thrones.

4 She’s Grown Incredibly Attached to Her Blonde Wig

If any of you were fooled by Emilia’s platinum locks in Game of Thrones thinking it was her natural shade, you were seriously mistaken. Emilia Clarke is not a natural blonde, even though she looks damn good as one. She’s actually a natural brunette but doesn’t she pull of the blonde hair really well? Clarke thinks so too. That is why she’s grown so attached to the blonde wig she wears for the part. ‘’I keep asking to go out with the wig at night, but they insist there’s no way,’’ she told GQ. ‘’They won’t let me go partying with it on! I would be killed on the spot. "It’s silly to say, but when I take the wig off at the end of the day, I’m rather disappointed when I look in the mirror."

3 She Rarely Gets Recognized

When she doesn’t wear her blonde wig, people rarely recognize Emilia Clarke. I guess that’s a good thing though. What some celebrities would give to not be recognized in the street. Clarke explains the time someone did actually spot her: "Well because of my hair, I rarely, rarely get recognized, but in America, I was once in a lift in a department store and the doors opened and this women stood there and looks at me and just went, Khaleesi!€and then the doors closed. So that was mental and bizarre and rarely happens, but when it does it’s normally on that kind of crazy scale!" Then again when you’re used to seeing her with a mop of platinum blonde hair surrounded by a flock of dragons, you’re bound to struggle spotting her in the street.

2 She Went to Boarding School

Hard to believe but Emilia Clarke actually went to boarding school when she was young. St. Edwards was the name of the boarding school and she only really went because he brother did. But she admits she didn’t really fit in there. "My school was quite posh, and I never quite fit in that mold," she explains. "I was really arty, and no one else was. They were all, like, lawyers who did tennis. I was crap at tennis, and I didn't care about law." She fitted in more when she went to drama school, after boarding school, because she met other people like her with similar interests. From there, she did several plays and short movies and eventually, after working several jobs, landed her role in Game of Thrones.

1 A Certain Musical Inspired Her to Become an Actress

It’s always intriguing to hear what inspired actors to become actors. For Emilia Clarke, it was a musical called Showboat that made her want to be an actress. She went to see the musical with her mother when she was just three years old and it made such an impression on her, she instantly knew acting was what she wanted to do. Later, she pursued her passion by studying theater at the Drama Center London. She’s not the only actor to have studied there. Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth are other notable members of the drama center. Still, in spite of her early aspirations and theater studies, acting wasn’t a career she simply fell into. It took a lot of grind before she got to where she wanted to be.