The 2010 movie Emilia Clarke wants to delete from history: “Oh no”
Look, everyone makes mistakes, but this is especially the case in the creative world, as everyone from Robert De Niro to Joni Mitchell have worked on projects that they regret.
So much of being an actor is figuring out your craft. Even if you’re the most naturally gifted thespian in the world, you can’t just rock up on a film set and begin delivering a Godfather-esque performance. It’s a lot more difficult than that, as you need to learn about how to behave in front of a camera, who does what on a film set, and how to play off those who you’re sharing a scene with.
We all know Emilia Clarke for the plethora of iconic roles she’s portrayed on screens both big and small. Who could forget her as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones? Granted, that series might have had the strangest and most divisive final series in television history, but there is no denying that the Mother of Dragons established herself as a serious actor in her execution of the role.
Add to that role her participation in major franchises like Star Wars and Terminator, as well as more indie offerings, for only 39 years old, you’d be forgiven for calling Clarke a complete natural. However, as I said, it just doesn’t work like that. Before she became a pivotal role in the entertainment space, she had to learn how to put her skills into practice.
A lot of actors do this by attending drama school, which Clarke did, but even after getting an education in her creative craft, she needed to gain experience by actually working on TV and film sets. One of her first roles was in the TV show Doctors, where she put drama school’s teachings into practice, but also learnt how to behave in front of a camera. While it might not be her finest work, she looked back on the job fondly.
“Yeah, my Dad stalked me,” she said, talking about her character, of course, “It gave me some camera experience, which gives you no end of confidence because you don’t get that much during drama school.”
So a very valuable experience. A lot of people are embarrassed by their early work, but not Clarke. Nothing else to read here, move on. “Then I did this little thing for an American TV channel,” she said, “Oh no…” Ah, maybe not then.
The “little thing” she’s referring to is a 2010 movie called Triassic Attack. You thought Jurassic Park was a good dinosaur film? You haven’t seen anything. In this absolute action-packed thriller, viewers are transported to a small roadside museum in a tiny American town. In this museum? A few dinosaur fossils scattered about, completely harmless, nothing to worry about. However, when residents in a nearby town get frustrated at the museum, a character called Dakota breaks in with the intention of vandalising it.
While there, he performs a ritual which brings to life three dinosaur skeletons, who then proceed to wreak havoc everywhere. Like I say, everyone in the creative world makes mistakes from time to time, and this happened to be Emilia Clarke’s. Regardless of how embarrassing a film it might be, it helped her get experience in front of the camera, which she continues to use as one of the most successful actors of her generation.
