Emilia Clarke watched Speeches Given By Hitler To Prepare For Her Finale Speech In 'Game of Thrones'

The firebrand character of Daenerys Targaryen was played by Emilia Clarke in the mega-hit series of HBO, 'Game of Thrones'. The finale of the final season of 'Game of Thrones' aired last weekend and it wrapped up HBO's long-running fantasy series with a bittersweet ending that saw some major deaths, new leaders, and one of the most controversial turns in television history. Where some might argue that Daenerys' turn in becoming 'The Mad Queen' was extremely rushed, but others have argued saying that the seeds of her madness were already planted way back in season 1 when she saw her brother die without even flinching. 

But it was in season 8 when Emilia Clarke had to work in order to let her inner demons out so that she can play the character to the bone. In a recent interview with Variety, the actress revealed that she made a number of controversial research so that she could prepare for her speech in the finale. Clarke also opened up about how difficult it was for her to film the entire speech in front of a green screen as she had to speak in a fictional language.

She was also worried that the subtitles of the scene might be distracting. She also added that she found inspiration from speeches from dictators, including the ones given by Adolf Hitler. She said, "In giving all these speeches in fake languages, I watched a lot of videos of — now it seems funny — dictators and powerful leaders speaking a different language to see if I could understand what they were saying without knowing the language."

She continued, "And you can! You absolutely can understand what Hitler’s f—ing saying, these single-focus orators speaking a foreign language. So I thought, 'If I can believe every single word I’m saying, the audience won’t need to be looking at the subtitles too much.' Understandably, this admission by Clarke surprised a lot of people, but given the premise, the 'inspiration' does not seem so surprising. 

Daenerys started off as a character that has good intention but eventually believed it was her birthright to not only rule Westeros but to also destroy oppression across the world, no matter what it takes. While talking about the finale of GOT and how divided fans were over it, she said, "I think it is what it always has been, which is a discussion of power and what it does to a single human being, a group of human beings, and the people they are meant to be serving."

She continued, "I think that is as true on the first episode of the first season as it is on the final episode of the series. It’s like catching the sunlight. How can you possibly understand what power is and how it universally affects individuals? And then there’s each individual’s attempts to grapple with it and use it for the good of a group of people, whatever that is."

She further added, "I think that is essentially a discussion on humans and how we can live together in a world that is ruled by the politics of individuals. That question is asked in the final episode and I don’t think it’s answered because it shouldn’t be answered. We can’t. There is no answer. We’re just trying to do it all the time. Where I think we got with the show is as good an answer as there could be."