‘Game of Thrones’: Emilia Clarke and Co-Star Iain Glen’s Wife Suffered Similar Health Scares
Emilia Clarke went from a relative unknown to an overnight sensation as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones in 2011. Since then, the actor has appeared in several projects and is usually open with her fans. Clarke once shared that she experienced two life-threatening health scares, and it turns out her Game of Thrones co-star Iain Glen’s wife also had a similar medical emergency.
Emilia Clarke underwent multiple life-saving surgeries
Clarke joined the Game of Thrones cast as a replacement for another actor in the role of Daenerys. The beloved series premiered on Apr. 17, 2011, but before the press junkets began, Clarke experienced a life-altering situation.
In an essay for The New Yorker, she recalled feeling unwell during a workout session with her trainer not long after wrapping up filming for the drama’s unreleased first season.
“My trainer had me get into the plank position, and I immediately felt as though an elastic band were squeezing my brain,” Clarke wrote.
The British star said she tried ignoring the pain and wanted to continue the workout. But it became difficult, so she went to the bathroom, where she became “violently, voluminously ill.”
The actor was rushed to the hospital, where she underwent a three-hour emergency surgery that resulted in four days in the ICU. Following the ordeal, Clarke had brief amnesia, but she went back to work on the GoT set despite being “so woozy” and “so weak” she thought she would die due to the intense pain.
Clarke said the pain forced her to take morphine for relief, but her problems were far from over. In 2013, a brain scan revealed the star had another aneurysm that had doubled in size. Like the first, the second surgery failed, and she experienced a “massive bleed,” forcing doctors to operate a third time by accessing her brain through her skull.
Emilia Clarke supported ‘Game of Thrones’ co-star Iain Glen when his wife had a similar emergency
At first, Clarke hid her health problems from her co-stars and the showrunners. However, when she later told them, her GoT family supported her. Glen said they “shepherded her and looked after her as much as they could.”
Years later, Glen found himself in a similar predicament with a loved one. In an interview for Making Game of Thrones, he revealed that his wife, English actor Charlotte Emmerson, had experienced a brain hemorrhage. It happened while filming his last scene as Ser Jorah Mormont in the Battle of Winterfell in GoT Season 8 Episode 3.
Glen remembered calling his wife to wish her well as she prepared for a play but didn’t receive an answer, so he left a message. According to the Game of Thrones actor, when he returned from filming, Emmerson had left a message informing him she was at the hospital due to a brain hemorrhage.
The Scottish actor revealed that his co-star and on-screen crush, Clarke, told him to “get on a flight” to see his wife. Glen shared that Emmerson recovered, and the nature of her condition meant it wouldn’t recur.
The ‘GoT’ star says she’s at ‘a hundred percent’
Clarke’s recovery after her third surgery wasn’t easy, but she pulled through. She revealed in the essay that her health has improved “beyond her most unreasonable hopes” and says she’s at “a hundred percent.”
The near-death experiences also inspired Clarke to help others in similar situations. She founded the charity SameYou to raise funds for people recovering from strokes and brain surgeries.
