Photo: David M. Benett/Dave Benett (Getty Images)
Move, deer in the headlights: We’ve got a new phrase to express ‘an almost paralyzed shock at the sight of overwhelming oncoming horror’ and it turns out it’s ‘Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke who’s asked if she’s seen House Of Nor the Dragon.”
Clarke was asked (very carefully!) about her viewing habits by Variety this week, in what appeared to be a genuine double-glare, followed by a shaky “No…?” and a nervous laugh immediately afterwards. It really is one of the funniest celebrity interview moments we’ve seen in a second, as Clarke seems genuinely mortified by her own inability to see the sequel.
To be fair, Clarke (who was interviewed with Chiwetel Ejiofor in relation to her new film The Pod Generation) was effusively positive about the show’s success, saying, “I’m so happy it’s happening, I’m so over the moon with everyone the awards, everyone who made it.” (Unsurprisingly, she gives the name of Season 1’s co-showrunner, Miguel Sapochnik, with whom she worked extensively on the Mothership series.) But again, no: She didn’t see it.
“I can not do this! It’s so weird!” she proclaims, before coming up with a metaphor to explain her discomfort. “It’s like someone saying, ‘Do you want to go to that reunion that isn’t your year? Do you want to go to that reunion walk?’ That’s how it feels. I avoid it.”
Luckily, House Of The Dragon doesn’t necessarily need that one extra viewer; While the show didn’t garner the insanely high numbers that Game Of Thrones itself had aired in its final seasons, it was a ratings hit even as it divided its attention between HBO and HBO Max.