This Is What Emilia Clarke Really Thinks Of Daenerys’ ‘Pretend Language’
Throughout her time on Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke became known for bringing Daenerys Targaryen to life. During this time, she had to learn several fictional languages, such as Dothraki and Valyrian. But what does the actress really think of these languages?
Is one easier than another? Which one would she say is the hardest? Find out, ahead.
How did Emilia Clarke learn Dothraki?
When Emilia Clarke first started playing Daenerys, she not only had to remember her lines but she had to learn a fictional language as well. This is because Daenerys gets married off to Khal Drogo, the leader of a group of Dothraki horse lords. Daenerys eventually becomes the leader of her own group of Dothraki and finally, of them all.
According to an interview with The Mirror in 2017, Emilia Clarke “had a lot of trouble memorizing [her] Dothraki lines.” So how did she remember them? Well, she “would put all these Post-It notes all over [her] apartment with different expressions and lines written on them.”
How does Emilia Clarke feel about the Dothraki language?
Emilia Clarke had to learn Dothraki to play Daenerys in Game of Thrones. But how did the actress feel about the language? In general, she describes it as “very difficult to remember and just as hard to pronounce” in her interview with The Mirror. She says that “When you’re speaking Dothraki it’s…like you’re choking on your words.”
According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2016, she does have a favorite Dothraki phrase despite the language being so difficult to learn. It’s “Qoy Qoyi” which means “blood of my blood.” Clarke says that “You have to do this swallowing thing” in order to say it. According to the actress, “Dothraki is this weird thing as it goes into your brain for as long as you need it to and then—it disappears, gone.”
In her interview with the Mirror, Emilia Clarke also describes Daenerys’ Dothraki language as something that does not really stay with her. “It is something you forget almost as soon as you leave the set,” she says. She also says that “Valyrian is much easier because it has a more melodic quality to it.” So there you have it, Valyrian is easier than Dothraki, at least for Emilia Clarke.
What did Emilia Clarke have to say about Daenerys’ ‘pretend language’ in season 8?
According to Entertainment Tonight, Emilia Clarke shows how she really feels about Daenerys’ “pretend language” in a featurette on the Game of Thrones season 8 Bluray and DVD set. She “was in hell learning [Daenerys’ final speech to her armies].” According to the actress, “This pretend language was literally eating [her] up.”
“[She] couldn’t do it,” she reveals. And then, somehow, she did it anyway. “[She] woke up in the morning, went on, and it all came out.” It was “magic [happening],” according to Clarke herself.
Clarke also reveals how hard she worked on preparing to give the speech. She “knew that speech was going to be really important, and [she] spent a huge amount of time learning it.” And in the end, her hard work paid off as “for the first time in [her] whole Game of Thrones career, [she] got [it] word perfect.”
