Elizabeth Olsen Recalls ‘Awful’ ‘Game of Thrones’ Audition for Daenerys Targaryen Role
“I was doing the Khaleesi speech when she comes out of the fire… I didn’t get a callback,” the WandaVision star said
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Elizabeth Olsen, mother of dragons?
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast on Monday, the WandaVision star, 32, recalled a less than stellar audition a decade ago for the hit series Game of Thrones, going out for the part of Daenerys Targaryen, which proved to be Emilia Clarke’s breakout role.
During the chat, Olsen explained that unlike a lot of actors, she “loves the nerves of an audition” and the creative freedom that comes with it.
“Auditioning has always been something I’ve enjoyed. I know other actors hate auditioning… You’re your own worst enemy in an audition. You’re either prepared, or you’re not prepared and then after that, nothing is in your control,” she said. “So it’s kind of fun for it to be this safe space of what you want to do with this part.”
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Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke. HELEN SLOAN/HBO
However, one memorable audition for the award-winning HBO series didn’t quite pan out as planned.
“I auditioned for Game of Thrones. I auditioned for, like, the assistant to the casting director in a small room in New York with just a camera on me and them reading the script,” Olsen recalled.
“I was doing the Khaleesi speech when she comes out of the fire. It was awful,” she added. “I didn’t get a callback.”
The Avengers actress previously teased that the Daenerys audition was by far one of the most cringy moments of her early days as a working actress.
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MATT WINKELMEYER/GETTY
“It was the most awkward audition I’d ever had,” Olsen told Vulture in 2019, recalling reading Khaleesi’s monologue from the end of season 1 for the audition.
“After she just burned. And she’s making this speech to thousands of people about how she’s their queen,” she explained. “They didn’t know if they wanted a British accent or not. So, you did it in both. It was terrible. Anytime someone says, ‘Bad audition story.’ That’s one I remember.”
Despite any disappointment, the experience didn’t sour Olsen from becoming a Game of Thrones fan — adding that she was sucked into the craze by one particular character.
“I’m just so deep in Game of Thrones that all I can think about is Kit Harington,” she told Vulture. “I mean, he’s just brainwashed me.”
Though it’s been nearly two years since the hugely popular show aired its series finale in May 2019, multiple spinoff series are currently in various stages of development at HBO, including a 10-episode prequel series titled House of the Dragon, starring British actor Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen. The series will tell the story of the Targaryen civil war that took place about 300 years before the events portrayed in GOT.