The actress was 'sick and tired' of being asked about her nude scenes on the HBO drama.
Emilia Clarke was "sick and tired" of constantly being asked about her nude scenes on Game of Thrones -- and she turned down Fifty Shades of Grey because of it.
During her sitdown with Patricia Arquette, Michelle Williams, Christine Baranski, Danai Gurira and Niecy Nash for The Hollywood Reporter's Drama Actress Roundtable, Clarke opened up about her decision not to play Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades franchise (the role went to Dakota Johnson) because of the reaction to her nudity on Game of Thrones.
"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 on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman," she explained. "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."
"So, that coming up, 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, 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,'" Clarke added.
The 32-year-old actress appeared nude in the first and last scenes of Game of Thrones' first episode -- and many times since. In a 2016 interview with ET, Clarke said she hoped the show would include more male nudity to balance it out.
"Damn straight," she said. "Khal Drogo hasn't been around for a while, so yes."
Clarke also said she was proud of the show's portrayal of women.
"It gets critiqued so often, and I think it's silly because I feel like we are a show at the forefront of feminism being kicked back again into the ether," she shared. "So many fabulous strong women, so I think we're doing alright."
See more on Clarke in the video below.
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