The surprising actress who nearly played Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones

Photo credit: HBO - HBO
Photo credit: HBO - HBO

From Cosmopolitan


Game of Thrones has finally come to an end, and after eight seasons of blood, sex and incest, we finally know who ends up on the Iron Throne. But things were almost very different for Daenerys Targaryen, after actress Elizabeth Olsen revealed she auditioned for the role, which eventually went to Emilia Clarke.

Speaking to Vulture on Friday [17 May], Elizabeth, who is most famous for playing Wanda Maximoff in the Avengers franchise, revealed she auditioned for the Game of Thrones role with two different accents. The result, she revealed, was the most awkward audition she's ever had.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

"It was the most awkward audition I'd ever had," she said. "When I first started working, I just auditioned for everything because I like auditioning. [The producers] didn't know if they wanted a British accent or not.

"It was terrible. Bad audition story," she said, of attempting two different accents.

The actress went on to add that she's a huge fan of the show and can't get one of the characters out of her mind. "I'm just so deep in Game of Thrones that all I can think about is Kit Harington. I mean, he's just brainwashed me."

We wonder what she made of the season finale, eh?

Photo credit: Home Box Office (HBO)
Photo credit: Home Box Office (HBO)

Elizabeth's revelation comes as Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry on GoT, told Cosmopolitan.com/uk that he actually auditioned for the role of Jon Snow in the early days.

"Initially I auditioned to play Jon Snow, but the thing to remember is, originally, HBO only commissioned the pilot, and then after that was made, there was still another 18 months between that and it being commissioned for a full series. So, yeah, ages and ages ago I auditioned to be Jon Snow. But I think pretty much every Caucasian actor of a certain age auditioned to play Jon Snow at that point."

Fair enough.

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