Clarke admitted that she “cheated death” by surviving the brain condition.

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke reveals 2 brain hemorrhages nearly ‘ruined my ability to act’ in moving speech

Clarke admitted that she "cheated death" by surviving the brain condition.

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June 4, 2026 10:55 a.m. ET

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Emilia Clarke in 2023. Credit:

Francois G. Durand/Getty

- *Game of Thrones *actress Emilia Clarke opened up about a scary medical condition.

- The star said that two brain hemorrhages nearly "ruined" her ability to act.

- She added that she "cheated death" by surviving the condition.

*Game of Thrones* star Emilia Clarke overcame a horrific medical condition that she said in a new, emotionally moving speech nearly "ruined" her ability to act.

The performer opened up on stage at *Variety*‘s Power of Women London event earlier this week, where she told attendees that two brain hemorrhages almost rerouted her life and career.

“For a number of years, I felt that I had cheated death, and it was coming to get me,” the 39-year-old said of the hemorrhages, which she endured in her 20s.**

Actress Emilia Clarke in January 2026.

Bryan Bedder/Getty

She continued, “I truly felt like I had done something wrong, and I shouldn’t be here. I also thought it ruined my ability to act — which some people might agree with!”

After surviving the hemorrhages, Clarke founded the SameYou charity in 2019, with the goal of assisting other survivors who've experienced bleeding in their brain like she did.

"When I finally shared my story in 2019, we were overwhelmed by the response,” Clarke said. "Mostly young people reached out to tell us their own stories. Today we have tens of thousands of survivors in our community saying essentially the same thing: the journey to healing feels like falling off the edge of a cliff without anyone there to catch you."**

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Clarke said that, amid enduring her first hemorrhage in 2011 at age 22, she was able to film *Game of Thrones *around the same time.

But, as she joked, after the second hemorrhage came at age 24 after her Broadway debut, she'd like to "blame my brain hemorrhage for the bad reviews" despite the health scare occurring after the show closed.

"Fifteen years after my first bleed, I have the hindsight to see how difficult that time truly was," Clarke continued. "I never had the chance to reflect on what my two brain traumas had done to me because I could walk, talk, be myself, remember my lines and was back on camera within weeks of both brain injuries."

Emilia Clarke in London.

Jeff Spicer/Getty

Clarke previously opened up about the hemorrhages in a *Variety* cover story.

"I was just convinced that I had cheated death and I was meant to die and every day, that was all I could think about," Clarke told the outlet.

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Despite her health setback, Clarke was able to gain immense career success with *Game of Thrones*. She has four Emmy nominations to her credit, and has appeared in other successful projects like the 2016 hit film *Me Before You** *and the 2015 *Terminator Genisys* blockbuster sequel.

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