Emilia Clarke Explains Why She Turned Down 'Fifty Shades'

Emilia Clarke is opening up about being in the running for the role of Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey and why she turned down the role.

The 32-year-old actress told THR how she is not looking to do a sequel right now and that led to a discussion of Fifty Shades.

“One thing I would not like to do is something that would have a sequel. Something that could have, like, ‘And then two and then three and then four.’ I’d like to not do one of those for a minute,” Emilia initially said.

“Well, Sam [Taylor-Johnson, the director] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman,” Emilia said while discussing Fifty Shades. “And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my tits, for God’s sake.”

“So, that coming up, I was like, ‘I can’t,’” she explained. “I did a minimal amount and I’m pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff, I was just like, ‘No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, no, you can’t keep asking me this question.’”

The role of Anastasia Steele went to Dakota Johnson and it turned her into a big star.