Game of Thrones is arguably the biggest TV show in the world, but despite that, and even after 67 episodes of the series, some fans are apparently still surprised to learn that Daenerys Targaryen's ridiculously luscious locks are not, in fact, actress Emilia Clarke’s real hair.
We’ll just give you a moment in case you need to reassess all that you held to be true in life. Here’s what Clarke actually looks like IRL.
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"I feel bad when I meet people and they realize I'm Khaleesi, and they get disappointed because we look nothing alike. I'm like, ‘Sorry, that ain't really me! It's a wig',” she told InStyle magazine.
“No human is that beautiful. Young people get this warped view of what beauty is because of the time, money, and effort that go into productions to make people look great.
“Yes, we need to watch these stories and be inspired, but it's important not to compare yourself. Because it's entirely make-believe.”
Clarke's Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey is also pretty good at transforming her appearance for the camera.
Headey, who plays strawberry-blonde, fair-skinned queen Cersei Lannister, actually has short brown hair and a number of very un-regal tattoos.
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Many other actors are unrecognisable from their famous screen creations. Remember the comedy series Ugly Betty? It starred America Ferrera as the braces-wearing, magazine-loving Betty Suarez, who was on a quest to find professional fulfilment, love, and inner beauty.
Well, here's the actress in real life.
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Yeah, we’re feeling slightly cheated about that whole inner beauty thing.
Then there’s Taryn Manning, who plays Orange is the New Black’s Tiffany 'Pennsatucky' Doggett, a prisoner who looks like a distant cousin of the possessed kid from The Exorcist.
But here’s what Taryn looks like when not in character.
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Meanwhile, Rustin 'Rust' Cohle from True Detective sheds a lot of hair (and about a decade) to become Matthew McConaughey in real life.
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Then there's Sophie McShera, who played naive kitchen maid Daisy in Downton Abbey, becomes far more glam whenever she hits the red carpet.
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But the most transformative screen star of all? It’s got to be Andy Serkis.
The English actor built his career in performance-capture roles, and is best known as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Caesar, the primate leader in the Planet of the Apes movies.
Yes okay, Serkis’ characters tend to be computer animated, leaving little to no recognisable physical features of the actor.
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However, with the amount of nuance that goes into Serkis’ physical movements and voice intonation, how many of you would guess that this is the same guy who played Gollum, Caesar, King Kong, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Supreme Leader Snoke?
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This article was originally published in 31 August 2017
