Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke, 32, suffered two brain haemorrhages during her 10-year stint on the show; one at the end of season one and the other after wrapping up season three. The actress previously admitted she feared dying after discovering her health problem, and now she has revealed further details. The actress appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night and told the host she “just knew” she had a brain haemorrhage after suffering “the worst headache that a human could possibly manage to experience”. She told him: “I genuinely knew that I was being brain damaged. I don’t know how… because you’re incredibly ill and just have a horrific headache and being violently ill.”
On dealing with the ordeal, Emilia added: “I tried to keep active as possible.
“I moved my fingers, my toes and hands.
“Asked myself questions… I really tried to force my memory to work as much as I could to stay conscious.”
The host then asked how she knew that would help her, to which she replied: “The mind is an extraordinary thing. I just knew, I just knew… not today.”
The actress went on to say she was “petrified” most of the time following the life-threatening ordeal, but tried to keep a positive mind.
She said: “Honestly, being completely honest, it made me petrified most of the time.
“I wish I could sit here and say, ‘I was like, let’s go jump out of a plane’.”
Emilia first spoke out about her brain haemorrhages in a candid interview with The New Yorker last month.
She told the publication: “Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life.
“I’ve never told this story publicly, but now it’s time.”
Emilia went on to say she was swiftly sent to hospital and underwent life-saving surgery.
Elsewhere, Emilia and the cast recently wrapped up their final season of the popular HBO series.
So far, despite many theories, the ending of the show has been kept under wraps.
When asked if it was frustrating keeping the storyline to herself, she joked she had a feeling she was going to let the cat out of the bag unintentionally very soon.
She told Stephen: “I’m just gonna say it. I know it. At one point it’s going to come out on live television.”
Game of Thrones season 8 returns April 14 on HBO in the US, and the next day on Sky Atlantic in the UK.