What Movies and Shows Has PONIES Star Emilia Clarke Been In?
Explore the actress' impressive career before diving into her new Peacock spy thriller, now streaming in full.
Emilia Clarke is trading dragon-riding for espionage.
As one of the two main stars in Peacock's Cold-War era series PONIES, Clarke portrays Bea, the wife of a Moscow-based CIA agent who is told that her husband died in a plane crash. Not content to just return to America, she and another widowed wife, Twila (Haley Lu Richardson), convince the CIA to let them stay in Moscow and work as spies to find out what really happened to their husbands.
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While Clarke famously rode dragons in one of the projects that she's most known for, she won't be wrangling any creatures on PONIES — which actually stands for "persons of no interest." Bea and Twila start out as PONIES in their spy work since it's unlikely that the KGB will suspect two women of working for the CIA.
Keep reading to find out where you may have seen Clarke before, from an epic fantasy show to romance films.
What shows and movies is Emilia Clarke best known for?
From 2011 to 2019, Clarke starred as Daenerys Targaryen, known as the Mother of Dragons, on Game of Thrones, the highly popular fantasy series. Among her other most notable projects are the 2016 romantic drama film Me Before You, the 2019 romantic comedy Last Christmas, 2015's sci-fi flick Terminator Genisys, and 2018's space Western movie Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Game of Thrones was one of Emilia Clarke's first roles
Clarke's screen career started with a 2009 episode of the British soap opera Doctors, followed by the 2010 TV movie Triassic Attack. It was Game of Thrones, the hit fantasy drama based on the books by George R.R. Martin, that really put her on the map when she was cast in the show that launched in 2011.
Her character's tragic backstory turned into a tragic love story, as Daenerys developed an increasingly dark quest for revenge and power, giving Clarke the opportunity to really flex her acting skills.
Clarke starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the 2023 Marvel miniseries Secret Invasion. And elsewhere on the small screen, she's done voice work in episodes of Futurama, Robot Chicken, and Thunderbirds Are Go. She's set to star in the upcoming crime drama series Criminal, alongside Charlie Hunnam, Luke Evans, Richard Jenkins, and Adria Arjona.
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Emilia Clarke starred in Me Before You and Last Christmas
Clarke has taken on a few iconic and memorable roles in movies over the years, including playing Sarah Connor in 2015's Terminator Genisys.
In 2016, she starred opposite Sam Claflin in the romantic drama Me Before You. She later played the childhood friend and crush of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story.
In 2019, Clarke starred with Henry Golding and Emma Thompson in the holiday film Last Christmas, which was co-written by Thompson and based on the song of the same name by Wham!, the 1980s pop act.
Clarke's character performs the song in the movie, with the actress showing off some impressive pipes that Bea might as well add to her arsenal of spy skills. That's on top of Clarke's knack for learning new languages, having had to learn the fictional language of Dothraki and High Valyrian for Game of Thrones, and Russian for PONIES.
Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson bonded quickly while filming PONIES
Clarke's PONIES co-star Richardson discussed the pair working together on the series during a November appearance on TODAY, and said they immediately bonded.
"Someone asked me in an interview the other day if I was star-struck by her, working with her, and I was like, 'Yes, but as a human," Richardson said. "Like, I am struck by the human star. She's the most generous, giving, earnest, powerful, but soft human. So, I was in awe of her as a human."
