Just over a year ago, Emilia Clarke appeared on Conan and made a plea for Game of Thrones to FREE THE PENIS!
Alas, the epic HBO drama still depicts more female nudity than male nudity on a regular basis.
But at least Clarke can sleep well at night, knowing she did her best to help women around the world out a bit.
In an interview with the latest issue of Rolling Stone, meanwhile, the actress said it took her awhile to realize just what sort of effect her gender has had on her life since since she struck it big.
Men all over the Internet may search for Emilia Clarke nude photos because they’re young and horny, while fans of this series may joke about how many times they’ve seen Clarke topless…
… but the star sort of woke up one day and realized that sexism is alive and not very well.
“You’re aware of it, and you’re aware of it, but one day, you go, ‘Oh, my God, it’s everywhere!’ Like you suddenly wake up to it and you go, ‘Wait a fucking second, are you . . . are you treating me different because I’ve got a pair of tits? Is that actually happening?"” she says to Rolling Stone, adding:
“It took me a really long time to see that I do get treated differently. But I look around, and that’s my daily life.”
Clarke is aware she’s fortunate.
She’s aware that she was named Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive in 2015 and that her looks have helped to further her career.
But she still has an important message to send:
“It doesn’t stop me from being a feminist. Like, guess what?
“Yes, I’ve got mascara on, and I also have a high IQ, so those two things can be one and the same.”
As Game of Thrones embarks on its final two seasons (yes, EVER!), Clarke’s character is finally setting sail for Westeros.
She is finally taking the climactic steps toward the Iron Throne, following many years of being one of the biggest female bad asses on television.
“Women have been great rulers,” she says of her role and the challenging world in which she’s acting these days.
“And then for that to be a character that I’m known to play? That’s so f-cking lucky. Anyone who seems to think that it’s not needed need only look at the political environment we’re all living in to be like, ‘Oh, no, it’s needed.
“It is needed.”
It really is.
And while we do care a lot about feminism and politics and equality and strong women, we need to know from Clarke:
Can she reveal any Game of Thrones Season 7 spoilers?
“Spoiler alert – I normally don’t spend very much time in Belfast, but this last season I spent a little more time there,” she teases.
“It’s a really interesting season in terms of some loose ends that have been tied, some really satisfying plot points, some things where you’re like, ‘Oh, my God. I forgot about that!’
“Rumors are going to be confirmed or denied.”
One rumor going around if that a Game of Thrones spinoff (or four Games of Thrones spinoffs) is in the works.
This may be the case, but don’t expect to see Clarke as Daenerys Targaryes in any of them.
“I am doing one more season. And then that’ll be it,” she says to Rolling Stone.
We get it. We get that Clarke likely wants to spread her wings and try something else.
We’re just going to miss Emilia Clarke, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains… Talker ‘Bout Boobies. We’re gonna miss her a lot.