Emilia Clarke on That Game of Thrones Scene Everyone’s Talking About: “That Ain’t No Body Double!”

(Caution: There are spoilers in this article!)

The world is still marveling over Daenerys Targaryen literally burning the house down on Game of Thrones last night, but there’s something more that Emilia Clarke wants you to know: When Daenerys’ clothes burned away, that nude scene was all her. “I’d like to remind people the last time I took my clothes off was season three,” she told Entertainment Weekly about the episode. “That was a while ago. It’s now season six. But this is all me, all proud, all strong. I’m just feeling genuinely happy I said ‘Yes.’ That ain’t no body double!”

So, how did that scene come together? Clarke’s portion was shot on a closed set in Belfast, while the rest of the scene was filmed in Spain. This is not the first time that Clarke has been nude on GoT, but this time she was more involved with how it all unfolded: “Taking off my clothes is not the easiest thing, but with the magic of the effects, I don’t have to do a season one and go on a cliff and do it—I’m in control of it.”

With sex and nudity a major part of the GoT story lines, there’s been a lot of speculation in the past about why Clarke does not usually partake. When her co-star Oona Chaplin, who played Robb Stark’s wife, Talisa, said that an actress on GoT no longer wanted to film nude scenes because the unnamed star wanted to be known for “my acting, not my breasts,” it was assumed by some that Chaplin was talking about Clarke—a claim that Clarke ignored. But when a Daily Mail story reported that Clarke was overheard saying she “can’t stand” sex scenes and that they should be “more subtle,” Clarke was quick to shut it down on Instagram: “In drama, if a nude scene forwards a story or is shot in a way that adds insight into characters, I’m perfectly fine with it. Sometimes explicit scenes are required and make sense for the characters/story, as they do in Westeros. If it’s gratuitous for gratuitous sake, then I will discuss with a director on how to make it more subtle. In either case, like a good Mother of Dragons, I’m always in control.”

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And after last night’s empowering scene, we highly doubt anyone will criticize Clarke again. Her choice to display her nudity (or not) is on her terms. “It’s difficult to be misquoted, and it’s nice to have something like Instagram to say the truth,” Clarke told EW. “How many times has [Daario actor] Michiel Huisman been asked about the fact he’s taken his clothes off a bunch? Is that even a discussion? No. So I’m doing it this year and people can talk about it and I’m ready to answer any questions about it, basically.”

We applaud the way Clarke is sending a strong and empowering message, as Khaleesi and as herself. As she told Glamour in her cover interview, “This gorgeous girl once said to me, ‘Watching Khaleesi makes me feel like I can be a strong woman.’ I remember being like, ‘That’s proper.’ That is a wonderful thing.”