Emilia Clarke told yesterday how she should not be able to speak after two aneurysms left sections of her brain ‘no longer usable’.
The actress, 35, pictured, said she was in the ‘really small minority’ of people who have survived and been left with ‘no repercussions’.
Her first aneurysm burst in 2011 after she had filmed the first series of Game Of Thrones and caused a stroke while the second needed surgery in 2013 after scans showed it had doubled in size.
Emilia Clarke starred in Game Of Thrones and is now making her West End debut by acting in The Seagull
She told the BBC her experiences have caused her to gain ‘a lot of perspective’ – especially after her second surgery in 2013
The actress, 35, pictured on stage prior to her West End debut, said she was in the ‘really small minority’ of people who have survived and been left with ‘no repercussions’ from two aneurysms
Miss Clarke, who is performing in The Seagull in her West End debut, told Sophie Raworth on BBC1’s Sunday Morning: ‘You gain a lot of perspective. The amount of my brain that is no longer usable… There’s quite a bit missing which always makes me laugh.’
Her life-saving treatment has left her with titanium in place of sections of her skull and scarring.
The actress first suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage after the aneurysm – a weak area in a blood vessel – on the surface of the brain burst.
They are most common in people aged between 45 and 70 and can leave patients with extreme tiredness, problems sleeping, headaches, vision disturbances and loss of movement.
But Miss Clarke said she has been left unaffected, adding: ‘I can do a two and a half hour play every single night and not forget a line. I always had a good memory because it is the only skill as an actor… so your memory is obviously incredibly important and I consistently tested that.’
She said she ‘gave up wondering’ about what is going on in her brain because ‘there’s no point in kind of continually racking your brains as to what might not be there because what you have now is great’.
The actress, who played ‘Mother of Dragons’ Daenerys Targaryen in the hit Sky Atlantic series, opened up about the trauma of her ordeal in 2019.
Miss Clarke, who founded the charity SameYou, to help those recovering from brain injuries and stroke, is making her West End debut in The Seagull.
