47
ON THE BIG SCREEN
SEE EMILIA NEXT IN
ME
BEFORE YOU,
A MOVIE BASED ON THE NOVEL
BY JOJO MOYES.
i
MAIN & RED CARPET PHOTOS BY CORBIS
how to lift weights from
Arnold. I spent more
of my time watching a
consummate professional
take charge of a set and
make everyone feel at
ease. That was something
that I, as a young actress,
personally took away and
learned from him.
Did you feel a
connection to the role of
Sarah, originally played
by Linda Hamilton? Or
did you want to make it
your own completely?
I grew up watching
The
Terminator
movies, so the
spirit of what Linda Hamilton
created was already within
me. I was inspired by what
she did and the moment in
which it happened. I wasn’t
alive [in 1984], but I know the
resonance of being a woman
and having that strong role.
It changed things.
I was incredibly lucky.
That space that happened
between the previous
movies and ours allowed
me to put my own stamp
on the role without feeling
like I needed to replicate
anything.
Do you have a discussion
with the showrunners
at the beginning of
every season of
Game
of Thrones
to find out
which characters make it
through alive?
Game of Thrones
makes a
point of shocking killings
throughout. As soon as you
start to really fall in love with
a character, we just kill them,
so goodness knows who’s
going to be next.
Before the start of every
season, I get the scripts of all
10 episodes so I get to read
everything before we’ve
even started filming. I feel
very lucky to know exactly
what I’m getting into. It’s
been quite a journey on the
series. I’ve been fortunate
to have a character whose
backstory I get to show. The
only way you’re truly going
to find audience empathy
for your character is to show
what your character has
been through.
You got to watch the
pains and struggles that
Daenerys had throughout
season one, and then you go
from there — from that point
of very much being a used and
abused young girl to riding off
into the sunset is cool.
What do you think you’d be
doing if the series hadn’t
come along?
There’s that wicked bar in
Hackney [east London] that I
was working in. I’d probably still
be there.
You play very strong
women on screen. What
are you like in real life?
Hilariously, I’ve been trying to
play roles that are very much
outside of who I am naturally
[
laughs
]. Definitely, having
such a strong mother and a
strong family dynamic give me
the strength and self-belief to
play characters such as Sarah
Connor.
I can only quote my parents,
who look at each other saying,
“We have no idea where
that
[her strength] came from.”
[
Laughs.
] I’m really not sure. I
was surrounded by the right
people at the right time. I
love what I do so much. I am
incredibly grateful that I get
to do it every day. To have fun
and play make-believe every
day — I think that happiness
gives you a lot of strength.
Don’t you feel like
rebelling sometimes?
I have rebel tendencies,
sure [
laughs
]. I got a lovely
tattoo last night, and I ride
motorbikes.
“I love what I do somuch…
To have fun and playmake-
believe every day— I think
that happiness gives you a lot
of strength”
Clockwise: Emilia with
Arnold Schwarzenegger;
posing with
Game
of Thrones
extras; in
character as Daenerys
Targaryen
Arnold is an incredibly
iconic figure. I grew up
watching and admiring him.
I had a lot of expectations
before I met him. For me,
the scariest moment with
Arnold was when we had
the read-through. That was
the moment when I first met
him. The room was silent
before he walked in. You
could hear a pin drop, with
no one knowing what was
going to walk through.
Then in walked this
charming, intelligent, sweet
man who’s down to earth
despite everything that
he has achieved in his life.
That continued on the set.
Because of the father-
daughter relationship that
we have in the movie, it
bled into to the offscreen
relationship that we had as
well. We had a really good
amount of banter.
I spent less time learning
