Emilia Clarke shares heartbreaking aftermath of 'Game of Thrones' exit

Emilia Clarke faced an "existential crisis" after Game of Thrones ended.

​The British actress, who played the role of the Mother of Dragons in the hit HBO fantasy series, revealed in a recent chat with Variety that following the end of her hit drama, it took her "years" to process the impact of the show.

​She said, “You always get a bit emotional at the end of every single shoot. But this was like, ‘I don't know what's happening to me'-kind of crying. It was such a significant part of my life that was the entryway to my career, that ending it and then COVID happening… existential crisis here I come!”

​Emilia continued, “It's taken me years to comprehend what it was. It's taken me years to comprehend what it meant."

​“I meet as many people who haven't watched it as who have. So, I'm just grateful that it happened. But I still can't quite wrap my head around it, if that makes sense.”

​Emilia admitted that she will always feel "grateful" to her character in the show.

​Elsewhere during the talk about the death of her character, Daenerys Targaryen, by her onscreen love interest Jon Snow.

​She said, “Outside of the controversy around her actions, him killing me really bummed me out. Kinda rude. I gave that man everything, burned cities to the ground for him, for us.”

​Emilia said jokingly, “I'm over it, clearly. I'm so over it, it's unreal. Livid.”

​The HBO fantasy series ran from 2011 to 2019.