Emilia Clarke Turned Down Fifty Shades Of Grey Because She Was Sick And Tired Of Being Asked About Game Of Thrones Nudity

Emilia Clarke has revealed she turned down the lead role in Fifty Shades Of Grey because she was frustrated at always being asked about being naked on screen.

Her character Daenerys features in several nude scenes in the first series of Game Of Thrones , but Emilia admits she became “sick and tired” of being constantly asked about it.

This led to her turning down the role of Anastasia Steele in 2015’s Fifty Shades Of Grey, which eventually went to Dakota Fanning.

Emilia told The Hollywood Reporter: “Well, Sam [Taylor-Johnson, the director] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman.’

“And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my tits, for God’s sake.”

The 32-year-old star also discussed how she felt nudity for women on screen led to “pigeonholing”, but also recognised she expected to be asked about stripping off on screen.

“I was like, ‘I can’t.’ I did a minimal amount and I’m pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff,” she said.

She added: “I was just like, ‘No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation’ and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, ‘No, you can’t keep asking me this question’.”

Emilia previously revealed that she “took a very long walk around London in a daze” after first reading the scripts for the final season of Game Of Thrones two years ago.

She said: “Now, finally, people are going, ‘Oh, now we understand why this season hit you hard’.

“I had no idea what to expect for this last season. I hoped for some juicy things to get into, as I always do for each season, but I didn’t see this coming.”

Posting on Instagram after the last ever episode aired, Emilia paid tribute to her character, writing: “This woman has taken up the whole of my heart.”