Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Ask ‘Game Of Thrones’ Actress Emilia Clarke For a Selfie The Next Time You See Her Out in Public

BuzzMarch 23, 2020

Celebrities may seem to live a charmed life on the outside, but what most people don’t know is that they’re just like everyone else and have bad days as well. This is especially true for recognizable faces like British actress Emilia Clarke, who’s best known for her role in the highly-successful HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’.

And while she is usually gracious when it comes to her fans, the star has recently decided to put her foot down and put a new rule in place: no more selfies.

Bad Experience

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Clarke usually allows fans to take pictures with her when she’s spotted out

This decision is reportedly a result of an awful experience Clarke had while in an airport. According to the story the actress told Jessie Ware during an episode of the Table Manners podcast, she was just walking an airport when she suddenly suffered a panic attack. The episode was brought on by ‘complete exhaustion’, the 33-year-old star said.

At the time, she was on the phone with her mother but was on her own when she began feeling breathless and began crying. Worse, she was approached by a fan asking for a selfie while she was in this panicked state. As can be expected, Clarke turned down the fan’s request and even apologized to him as she was dealing with the attack.

No More Selfies

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The actress says that she’s still willing to sign autographs for fans when she’s asked for them appropriately

Because of this incident, she’s decided to take a break from giving away selfies to fans in the meantime. However, this doesn’t mean that the actress is completely swearing off interacting with fans altogether. She actually says that she finds small talk with more meaningful anyway.

As she explained, these kinds of interactions are better because she and the other person are actually having a ‘truthful human to human thing’ instead of just a quick selfie and a goodbye. She’s previously said something similar during an earlier interview with BBC Radio back in 2018. In the exchange, Clarke shared that she appreciated it when fans politely asked her for a selfie.

What Panic Attacks Are Like

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The star has recently been busy promoting her latest movie ‘Last Christmas’ with actor Henry Golding

As people might realize from Clarke’s experience, having a panic attack isn’t a walk in the park. It is usually accompanied by a couple of the symptoms like a sudden feeling of intense fear, an accelerated heart rate, shaking, and even feelings of unreality or depersonalization.

It is different from regular anxiety in its intensity and its relative shortness usually lasting for up to 30 minutes. Panic attacks can happen out of the blue or when a person is already in an anxious state. These incidents can happen to people with panic disorder and those with other psychological disorders.