The Fake Blood On Game Of Thrones Put Emilia Clarke In A Very Sticky Situation
"Game of Thrones" aired on HBO from 2011 to 2019, becoming one of the most-watched cable shows of the 2010's. This is even more impressive when you consider the subject matter. With free reign to depict the worst extremes of human behavior, "Game of Thrones" was full of shocking violence and adult situations. For the actors on "Game of Thrones," being cast was a double-edged sword. Sure, the show changed their careers, but it also meant some unpleasant filming situations.
Emilia Clarke played Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of the dragon-riding dynasty who spends most of the show's eight seasons building up her power base for an eventual invasion of Westeros. In earlier seasons, this meant navigating the unfamiliar political situation as Khaleesi of the Dothraki people.
For Clarke, one of the most difficult scenes to film came during the Season 1 episode "A Golden Crown," in which Daenerys eats a raw horse's heart to win the Dothrakis' approval. Not surprisingly, it was a messy experience. Here's what it was like to film one of "Game of Thrones'" gnarliest scenes.
Emilia Clarke was covered in so much fake horse blood she got stuck to a toilet
First, there was the experience of eating the horse heart itself. According to Clarke, the horse heart was made of a molded jam-like substance similar to what's found in gummy bears. She was told the hearts would taste like gummy bears, but in fact they vaguely tasted like pasta and bleach. Altogether, Clarke estimate she bit into 28 gummy horse hearts. She vomited "quite often" during shooting (via The Mirror).
Filming was just the start of the ordeal. As Clarke explained on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2012 (via eonline), each time she bit into a heart it squirted fake blood that was "really, really sticky." Eventually, she was covered head to toe in the substance. "And it kind of just stays sticky for quite a long time," she explained. "There's a moment when we were filming it that I disappeared and I was stuck to the toilet."
Being cast as the Mother of Dragons was a game-changer for Clarke's career, but it definitely had its downsides.