Emilia Clarke's nude scene pressure didn't come from 'Game of Thrones'

Emilia Clarke opened up about performing in nude scenes on Game of Thrones and later projects in a recent episode of Dax Shepard's podcast Armchair Expert.

In the episode, Clarke recalled feeling inexperienced on set during the first season of Game of Thrones and noted how she relied on her co-star and sex scene partner Jason Momoa to let her know what is and isn't acceptable for on-set nudity.

"Because Jason had experience, he had done a bunch of stuff before coming on to this, he was like, 'Sweetie, this is how it's meant to be and this is how it's not meant to be, and I'm going to make sure that's the way it goes,'" she said after mentioning that she felt "fortunate" to have him there to keep her comfortable.

Game of Thrones hired an intimacy coordinator to manage and supervise its nude scenes in 2018, seven years after the first season aired and many of its more controversial nude scenes had already aired.

While some outlets have reported that Clarke brought up the subject of on-set pressure to be naked with regard to Game of Thrones, she actually only mentioned pressure in reference to her experience with later projects that allegedly used her HBO nudity as an excuse to get her to show more skin.

"I've had fights on set before where I'm like, 'No, the sheet stays up,' and they're like, 'No, you don't wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans.' And I'm like, 'Fuck you.'"

Clarke and Shepard also discuss how familiar she had to become with waivers and contractual nudity, noting that by the end of her time on Game of Thrones she felt more empowered to own her nude scenes, compared to the imposter syndrome she felt in the show's first season.