Emilia Clarke turned down the leading role in Fifty Shades Of Grey in a display of stellar instincts
It’ll be interesting to see the offers the Game Of Thrones alumni will be turning down in the coming years. Avoiding the inherent trap of typecasting after coming off of a landmark franchise is a real challenge; if we had to guess, the gang could probably do without constricting armor and CGI dragons for a little while. Emilia Clarke has already dealt with her share of pigeonholing offers that had nothing to do with her turn as the queen of dragons, but with, as she describes, the “minimal”nudity that she engaged in onscreen.
During this year’s drama actress roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, Clarke revealed that she had actually turned down the leading role in the film adaptation of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades Of Grey. She, of course, is referring to the role of Anastasia Steele, a part that would eventually go to Dakota Johnson.
“Sam [Taylor-Johnson, the director] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on [Game Of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman,” Clarke tells fellow actresses and roundtable participants Patricia Arquette, Christine Baranski, Danai Gurira and Niecy Nash. “And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my tits, for God’s sake.”
Clarke added that the role would have undoubtedly led to continuous inquiries for similar work, all because she was part of one occasionally horny show. “No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, ‘No, you can’t keep asking me this question.’”
It’s a good thing she stood her ground, as it looks like she dodged quite a few bombs. And making a standard professional choice for one project definitely shouldn’t define the trajectory of one’s career. So how about finding Clarke some parts where she can have fun, yeah? Are there still available leads for that Between Two Ferns flick?