Former Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has revealed the pressure she faced to perform nude scenes early in her career, claiming she was scared to challenge directors when it came to needless exposure.
Clarke, who skyrocketed to international fame in the role of Daenerys Targaryen, said her surprise at landing the role as an industry newbie made her fearful of confronting the Game of Thrones' directors over Daenerys' excessive nudity.
"They sent me the scripts and I was reading them, and I was like, 'Oh, there's the catch'," she told American actor Dax Shepard on his popular podcast, Armchair Expert.
"I'd come fresh from drama school and I approached [it] as a job - if it's in the script then it's clearly needed... but then going in and doing it... I have no idea what I'm doing.
"I've never been on a film set like this before... I'm now on a film set completely naked with all these people... I don't know what's expected of me, I don't know what you want and I don't know what I want."
Clarke revealed she often felt coerced by Game of Thrones' bigwigs into performing scenes with gratuitous nudity.
"I've had fights on set before where I'm like, 'No, the sheet stays up'. They're like, 'You don't want to disappoint your Game of Thrones fans'," she recalled to Shepard.
"And I'm like, 'F**k you'."
Afraid of aggravating Game of Thrones' executives, Clarke was concerned her reservations would reflect badly on her professionalism.
"I would have spent that first season thinking I'm not worthy of requiring anything, I'm not worthy of needing anything at all... whatever I'm feeling is wrong," she admitted.
Clarke attempted to mask her feelings of discomfort by crying in the bathroom, telling herself the scene will be "completely fine".
She acknowledged the support of actor Jason Momoa, who played the role of Daenerys' husband, Khal Drogo.
The 33-year-old said she has since become "a lot more savvy" with her boundaries.
"I'm a lot more savvy with what I'm comfortable with and what I am okay with doing," she explained.
