Emilia Clarke was "really sad" when she was starring on 'Game of Thrones'.

The 36-year-old actress admitted it was "very confusing" learning to navigate her sudden fame from playing Daenerys Targaryen on the HBO drama series as well as dealing with the death of her father, and her own medical issues after suffering two brain aneurysms.

She told the LA Times newspaper: “There were times when I was really sad on that show, just simply because I was a young woman in her 20s.

“All of that happening while ‘Game of Thrones’ was happening, it sometimes could be very confusing.”

But as more time passes, Emilia has learned to appreciate how special her experience with the show was and feels "lucky" to have played the Mother of Dragons.

She said: "It’s not a shabby role to be associated with. Daenerys, I hope, is associated with a certain calibre of work, so lucky me that that’s the case. As long as people don’t ask me about nudity.”

In the wake of the series ending, Emilia turned to theatre and movie roles before taking on her new project, portraying G’iah in Disney+ extra-terrestrial spy series 'Secret Invasion', because she needed" to do something different to make a break from 'Game of Thrones'.

She said: “I needed different characters. I needed different experiences. I just want to try and do as many different things as possible.”

And the British star is determined to take on as many new experiences as possible so she can learn more in her career.

She said: “I just want to keep broadening and reaching for the things that I haven’t had a chance to do before.

“With each new experience [and] every year that passes, you have more to play with as an actor.”