“It was pitched to me like, ‘Emma Thompson has written a movie.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t even need to read it. Yes, I’m in, I’m 100 per cent in,’” Clarke recalled.
“I think she is the greatest human and with the double combo of Paul Feig directing, it was an absolute no-brainer.
“Worst-case scenario, we were at least going to have a wonderful time.”
The former Mother of Dragons actress, who will be on tonight’s Graham Norton Show, is best known for her part in the HBO series, which came to an end with a dramatic eighth season earlier this year.
During her interview on The Graham Norton Show, airing later this evening, she spoke about filming Last Christmas, saying: “Filming at Christmas in London last year was bonkers.
“Because we were in Covent Garden and Regent Street, we started at midnight and finished at midday and I was in a perpetual sort of hangover state. Starting filming at midnight in the centre of London had its issues – there are a lot of drunk people wandering around and shouting at us and leaning out of windows telling us how bad we were!” she added.
Clarke has also appeared on the big screen in the likes of Terminator Genisys and Me Before You.
Last year, she played Qi’ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story.