Emilia Clarke: I’m happy to play strong women

Emilia Clarke relishes playing “strong, powerful women”.

The 28-year-old actress stars as the young Sarah Connor in the newest installment of the Terminator franchise, Terminator: Genisys.

And along with her role as Daenerys Targaryen in hit TV show Game of Thrones, Emilia is no stranger to portraying a dominant female – something she is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to do.

"That's a mantle I'm incredibly happy to take on,” Emilia told USA Today. “It's great to be such a young girl and have the opportunity to play such strong, powerful women."

To play Sarah in Genisys, Emilia had to undertake several months of weapons training. She shared a trainer with co-star Jai Courtney, who plays Kyle Reese in the film, to ensure she was convincing enough for the epic grenade-heavy battle scene.

"Funnily enough, no, I hadn't shot a grenade launcher before this movie," she said.

"But it was very real and incredibly fun. Those blanks are louder than the real thing.

"This training allowed me, as the only girl, to walk up on set and go, 'Yo, boys this is how it's done!’ ”

Emilia previously revealed in a recent interview that she felt quite naive jumping into the project with no hesitations because Terminator has a huge fan following, mainly down to Arnold Schwarzenegger's involvement. He returns as the title Cyborg in this movie after being absent from the last installment and Emilia loved every minute of working with him.

"He's really funny, and he doesn't take anything seriously, and a joy to have on set," she gushed on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show.