<P> In 2010 Clarke was cast as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin . She was cast after fellow British actress Tamzin Merchant was replaced for undisclosed reasons . In an interview, Clarke stated that she did the funky chicken and robot dance during her audition . The show debuted in April 2011 to positive reviews and was quickly picked up by the network for a second season . Clarke won the 2011 EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role as Daenerys . In 2013, Clarke was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards . She was nominated again in the category in 2015 and 2016 . </P> <P> Clarke has received widespread praise for her performance . Her portrayal of Daenerys, tracing an arc from frightened girl to empowered woman, has been praised highly . Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe called her scenes "mesmerizing", adding that "Clarke doesn't have a lot of emotional variety to work with as Daenerys, aside from fierce determination, and yet she is riveting ." Todd VanDerWerff for The A.V. Club commented on the difficulty of adapting such an evolution from page to screen, but concluded that "Clarke (...) more than seal (s) the deal here . In 2017, Clarke reportedly became one of the highest paid actors on television, earning £ 2 million per episode of Game of Thrones . </P> <P> In 2012, Clarke appeared in Spike Island, a film named after the location of The Stone Roses's seminal 1990 gig . From March to April 2013, Clarke played Holly Golightly in a Broadway production of Breakfast at Tiffany's . That year, she also starred in Dom Hemingway alongside Jude Law . Critical reaction to the film was mostly positive, though it was a commercial failure . </P> <P> In May 2014, it was announced that she had joined the feature film Garden of Last Days alongside James Franco, but the movie was scrapped two weeks before production was due to begin . Clarke was offered the role of Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey but turned down the part because of the nudity required . She played Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys (2015), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, and Jason Clarke . The film grossed over $400 million worldwide, but received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, despite this she did receive nominations for awards like the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie Star - Female and Germany's Jupiter Award for Best International Actress . </P>

Who plays mother of dragons on game of thrones