Emilia Clarke's Parents Are 'Incredibly Proud' That Their Daughter Plays the 'Mother of Dragons'

Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke is soon going to make her mark on the big screen as the iconic Sarah Connor in the new movie, Terminator: Genisys, starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jai Courtney.

The actress seems to have an affinity with strong female characters since her small screen persona is one of the most beloved and admired characters in the Game of Thrones series, Daenerys Targaryen, also known as Khaleesi or "The Mother of Dragons."

While the actress admitted that her parents had some qualms about the role when she first started with the show, their opinions have changed significantly. She even told her parents to skip the first six episodes of season one because they might get shocked with the violence and heavy sexual content her character has to suffer through.

"We sort of didn't talk for a minute during Season 1," she told Empire Online about her parents' reaction.

But the more the character of Khaleesi grew in the series, the more her parents' perception changed. Clarke said that her parents are now both "incredibly proud" of her and her mother even likes to call herself the "Grandmother of Dragons."

Clarke said that she got hit by the acting bug when she was "maybe five or something" after she beat her friend, Jessica, for the lead role in the school play, and that incredible feeling was something Clarke could never forget.

It was not the only thing she forgot though. Clarke laughingly recalled that she forgot her lines but that only made her more determined to do better next time around.

"I was like a sucker from then on," she laughingly shared. "It was like, 'That is what I'll do with my life.'"

Her parents were perplexed with her decision to take up acting but there was no stopping Clarke. After leaving school in Oxford, she studied at the Drama Centre in London's King's Cross. Later on, she took on the role of Daenerys from Tamzin Merchant, who played the character in the abandoned pilot.

Nobody was prepared for the success of Game of Thrones, especially Clarke. She also knows she has a lot to thank the show for in terms of getting other acting gigs.

"What can you say? A singular TV event transforms you into the girl of the moment, and then the blockbusters come rolling in. Yep, I've been lucky. I'm pinching myself. It's über-surreal," she said. "It's only this season that I've relaxed into what it is."