Jason Momoa Looked Out for Emilia Clarke During Their Nude GoT Scenes

From Good Housekeeping

• On a recent episode of Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard, Emilia Clarke opened up about filming Game of Thrones with Jason Momoa.

• Clarke and Momoa's characters, Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo, were in a politically convenient arranged marriage.

• The actors' first scenes together were potentially awkward, but Clarke says Momoa's energy helped.

Imagine you're a 23-year-old actress reporting to set for your first-ever major role. Your character's debut scene? Stripping down naked, getting into a bathtub, and preparing to marry a gruff, gigantic stranger. That was the situation Emilia Clarke found herself in after being cast as Game of Thrones' Danaerys Targaryen back in 2010. Then a newcomer (she only had a few minor TV roles and a theater school degree), Clarke could have had an uncomfortable experience signing up for sex scenes with full-frontal nudity, but that wasn't the case.

In an interview with Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert, Clarke credited former GoT co-star Jason Momoa for helping her emerge from the first season unscathed. Other actresses have of course spoken about their negative, and at times traumatizing, experiences filming sex scenes in film and TV. And as of 2018, HBO now hires intimacy coordinators for sets, ensuring safe experiences for all involved.

“He took care of me in an environment where I didn’t know I needed to be taken care of,” Clarke said. “Jason was an experienced actor who had done a bunch of stuff before coming onto Game of Thrones. He said, ‘This is how it’s meant to be and how it’s not meant to be. I’m going to make sure that’s not the case.’ So he was always like, 'Can we get her a robe? She's shivering!"

She also added that Momoa cried more than she did during those scenes.

Now that she is older and more experienced, Clarke appreciates Momoa's active role more. “It’s only now I realize how fortunate I was. That could've gone many, many different ways. He was so kind and considerate, and cared about me as a human being,” Clarke said.

Since the show's 2011 premiere, thanks in part to the #MeToo movement, cultural conversation around the topic of sexual assault has evolved. As such, the show, and some of its actors' comments, have not aged well.

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In 2017, Momoa made headlines for a controversial joke he made at a Comic Con panel in 2011, not long after the show arrived to HBO. Momoa said he loved acting in the sci-fi genre because "there are so many things you can do...like rape beautiful women." Later that year, Momoa made another offhanded comment about raping Clarke's character to the New York Post.

Following the blowback to his unearthed remarks, Momoa posted a public apology on Instagram. "I am still severely disappointed in myself at the insensitivity of my remarks that day. I know my sincerest apology now won’t take away those hurtful words. Rape and sexual harassment can reach anyone and I have seen first hand its painful torment among members of my own family and friends. I made a truly tasteless comment. It is unacceptable and I sincerely apologize with a heavy heart for the words I said."

Similarly, their characters' love story has also sparked some criticism.

Yes, the doomed love story of Momoa's Khal Drogo and Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen stands out for its tenderness—Etsy is teeming with couples’ jewelry emblazoned with the Dothraki phrase of devotion (“Moon of my life, my sun and stars”). But the glorification of Drogo and Daenerys eclipses the vexed start of their relationship. Daenerys was effectively sold to the Dothraki leader to fuel her brother’s, Viserys’s, political strivings (he got his). On their wedding night, Drogo rapes the future Mother of Dragons. It’s a painful scene to watch — and a start to the show’s controversial habit of using rape as a plot point.

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But adoring Clarke and Momoas's relationship off-screen is far less complicated than shipping their characters. Their friendship is adorable, as evidenced by Clarke’s comments in the podcast.

"He's one of those incredibly rare people—their personality and their spirit is as big as he is. He just takes up the whole world. It's f--king beautiful," Clarke said.

If you need more of their chemistry in your life, follow both Clarke and Momoa on Instagram. They occasionally stage brief Game of Thrones reunions on their pages.

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