Yes, that’s right. Apparently, before airing the first episode of Game of Thrones, there was a pilot episode shot for the series, which never got aired for some reason, and Emilia was not Daenerys there. Instead, this actress reprised the role.

So, what happened next? Scroll ahead to find out what happened to the actress who was supposedly to feature as Daenerys and how Emilia Clarke got roped in for the role.

Well, as reported in Collider, the reason was not that Emilia Clarke punctured her audition or that the production team had approached someone else. Long before Game of Thrones’ first episode, “Winter Is Coming,” could hit the screens in 2011, the showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss tried to create a pilot episode (which remained unaired for many reasons) with the actress Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys.

However, the OG pilot faced a lot of issues, from Lana Headey’s wig giving a vibe of “medieval Dolly Parton” to horses getting excited during s*x scenes and a rather cold chemistry between Jason Momoa and Tamzin Merchant. She played a few important scenes, including Dany’s marriage to Khal Drogo (Jason) and their infamous s*x scene (which had a much lesser visual aesthetic and had a closer aspect of the book version than what ended up on the show between Emilia Clarke and Momoa).

Even though Merchant did a great job on screen as Daenerys, she ultimately had to leave the franchise. And while we don’t know what the possible reason could be, it was reported that her chemistry with Jason Momoa didn’t fit right. And why Merchant’s character got a recast, not Momoa’s, we don’t know.

However, casting director Nina Gold once revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair, “It’s terrible to disappoint… It’s difficult to let down… That’s hard. It’s tough, but you’ve got to get it right, ultimately.”

Well, Tamzin Merchant’s departure became a boon for Emilia Clarke as she got to reprise one of the iconic characters in her career in Game of Thrones. Can you imagine anyone else other than the Secret Invasion actress as Daenerys Targaryen?

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