If a fan catches Emilia Clarke out in public, there’s not much of a chance that the Game of Thrones star will pose for a selfie. After a few bad experiences, Clarke has decided not to take selfies with fans anymore, but there’s actually a very sweet reason why. What she does instead creates a better chance for the actress to bond with her fans.
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The 33-year-old actress has a new policy when it comes to fan interactions, she revealed on the podcast Table Manners with Jessie Ware. Instead of taking photos with whatever random fan approaches her, Clarke instead offers to sign something. There’s very touching reasoning behind the Mother of Dragon’s decision to make the switch, she told podcast host Jessie Ware.
Emilia Clarke wants a different fan interaction
“Because as soon as you sign something, you have to have an interaction with that person,” she explained. “Then you have a chat and you’re actually having a truthful human-to-human thing, as opposed to it being this other thing that probably isn’t nice for them and isn’t that nice for you.” Besides the awkward nature of a selfie with a stranger (personal space, hello), this also allows Emilia Clarke the opportunity to really connect with her fans and actually spend a bit of time with them before moving on with her day.
“When you do a signing thing, you can actually look into their eyes and have a proper real human thing,” she said. What fans are really after is a chance to meet and spend a little time with her, and Clarke wants “to be able to provide them what it is they’re after.” Just because she has a kind reason for the change doesn’t mean there haven’t been bad experiences, though.
She had a particularly bad fan experience
Emilia Clarke recalled the time a fan approached her at an airport while she was suffering from a panic attack “brought on by complete exhaustion.” “I was on the phone to my mum saying, ‘I feel like I can’t breathe, I don’t know what’s going on,'” she remembered. “I’m crying and crying, and this guy’s like, ‘Can I get a selfie?’ I was like, ‘I can’t breathe, I’m really sorry.'”
So not only has this change been good for Clarke’s relationship with her fans, it’s also been great for her mental health. “I signed up for [fame],” she said. “I’ve just been trying to navigate how I can [interact with fans] without feeling like my soul is completely empty. Because they don’t really want to talk to you.” By signing something instead of simply posing like a cardboard cutout, Emilia Clarke can remind people that she’s a real, living, breathing person who has feelings. Having that fact taken for granted can’t be a good feeling, so it’s awesome that Clarke thought of a way to please both her fans and herself.