November 11, 2019, 6:21 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Emilia Clarke is known to many as Daenerys Targaryen from the fantasy series “Game of Thrones.” The series has since wrapped up, and Clarke is focusing on new projects, such as the Christmas film “Last Christmas,” which hits German theaters on November 14. TRAVELBOOK met Clarke for an interview and asked how the filming in London went–and which cities she actually likes the most.
Emilia Clarke is known to many as the platinum-blonde “Mother of Dragons.” For the multi-award-winning fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” she traveled to stunning locations. These included impressive landscapes like the coast of the Spanish Basque Country or County Antrim in Ireland, and fascinating cities like Dubrovnik in Croatia.
Also interesting: Why driving in London can become absurdly expensive
“Last Christmas” Brought Clarke Back Home
In her new film, the romantic Christmas movie “Last Christmas,” the setting was London. For Clarke, who now primarily films in Los Angeles, the shoot meant one thing above all: coming home. “I am a Londoner through and through,” Clarke told TRAVELBOOK in the interview. Even though she didn’t grow up directly in the city but in the surrounding area, the city is her home. Not only because her parents, both Londoners, showed her the city, but also because she later lived there herself.
Emma Thompson, who wrote the screenplay, and director Paul Feig are also well-acquainted with London and incorporated that into the film. “Emma Thompson knew the secret garden and the narrowest street in London and included that in the film, I picked up Jermyn Street and Wiltons Restaurant. In the end, it was a fun mix of places we both like,” Paul Feig told TRAVELBOOK in the interview.
Emilia Clarke didn’t have any influence on the filming locations, but she still found herself during the shoot at places she knew from her youth: “My drama school was across the street from one of our main filming locations! If only my younger self could see me now …”.
However, due to her proximity to the city, she also noticed how much visually changed in the city after the filming. “We added so many colorful lights to all these places that aren’t actually that pretty. And I thought: The world is getting a false impression,” she said, laughing.
The Filming Locations of “Last Christmas” in London
Where in London Emilia likes to go the most, which cities besides the British capital are in her top five, and which city took her a long time to warm up to, you can see in the video above!