Emilia Clarke Reacts To Marvel And Star Wars Backlash

One of Game of Thrones’ leading actors is taking the backlash to her Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars roles in stride.

Though she’s arguably still best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen in the popular HBO fantasy series, Emilia Clarke has contributed to some other major franchises over the last decade. That includes playing Qi’ra in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, followed by taking part in the 2023 MCU miniseries series Secret Invasion as G’iah. Clarke has now reacted to the negative reactions surrounding these entries on her resume.

She shared her thoughts on the subject during an interview with Variety, which included referencing her time playing Sarah Connor in 2015’s Terminator Genisys. When Secret Invasion came up in the conversation, Clarke said:

I don’t think no one liked that show, guys. I’m sorry! ‘Star Wars’? They didn’t like it. ‘Terminator’? That should never have happened. But these were jobs I said yes to, you know what I mean?

Clarke added that when her participation in these established franchises “don’t work out, it’s not personal.” Furthermore, she explained that her “connection to a project ends when they say, ‘Picture wrap.’ Because it’s not for me to decide what people will think of it.” As such, she’s not bothered by her Marvel, Star Wars, and Terminator outings not working out.

Terminator Genisys was the first of these projects, released four years after Game of Thrones premiered. Clarke is the third actor to bring Sarah Connor to life, following Linda Hamilton in the first two Terminator movies, and her Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey in the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Genisys also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, and Jason Clarke. Despite its $440.6 million box office haul, Genisys earned primarily negative reviews, resulting in sequel plans being scrapped.

Three years later, Solo: A Star Wars Story was released, with Clarke playing the childhood friend/love interest of Alden Ehrenreich’s Han. Though Solo earned much better critical reception than Genisys, it only made $393 million worldwide, making it the first Star Wars movie to be a box office failure. Clarke also said during the interview that she thinks the “Millennium Falcon has sailed” on her reprising Qi’ra, though the character has been featured in Star Wars comics released over the last several years.

As for Secret Invasion, Clarke’s G’iah was one of the many Skrullls spotlighted in the miniseries. Though this gave the actor the opportunity to work with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Olivia Colman, it’s also one of the lowest-rated MCU TV shows. Among its critiqued aspects was the fight between G’iah and Ben-Adir’s Gravik in the finale.

Emilia Clarke was most recently seen leading the Peacock series Ponies (which she also executive-produced) with Haley Lu Richardson. She’s also set to star opposite Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona, and Luke Evans in Prime Video’s TV adaptation of Criminal, the comic book series written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Sean Phillips. Tribeca Film Festival attendees will be able to see Clarke in the movie Next Life when it premieres on June 5.