Game of Thrones might have come to an end—I'm not crying, you're crying—but the friendship between co-stars and real-life friends Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington lives on. The duo have developed a close relationship over the course of eight seasons, and despite their characters *spoiler alert* becoming more than just friends, their friendship seems to mimic a sibling relationship more than anything.
From shutting down dating rumors to exchanging adorable compliments, here's everything you need to know about the real-life relationship between the King in the North and the Mother of Dragons.
Their first meeting was adorable.
In a profile of Clarke in ELLE in 2017, Harington revealed, "I remember vividly the first time I met Emilia, which was in the hotel bar in Belfast, before Season 1. I was sort of bowled over by this absolutely stunning, petite girl with this wicked sense of humor. We became very fast friends quite quickly."
He later described their first meeting to Esquire in 2019. "I remember the first time I ever saw her," he said. "She came into the Fitzwilliam bar [the bar of the hotel where the cast would stay while filming]. I had been talking to Rich Madden at the bar and he went, 'I’ve just met the new Daenerys. She’s gorgeous.' And I was like, 'Really? I haven’t met her yet.' And then she came in and I saw her and was like, 'Wow.' She takes your breath away when she walks into a room, Emilia."
Jon Snow himself was clearly wowed when he met Clarke for the first time, but their friendship was quickly founded on a shared dark sense of humor, rather than any physical attraction. "Emilia is so sweet, so giving," he noted to ELLE, "but she also has a filthy, filthy mind when she wants to."
The pair full-on made out during a photoshoot in 2012.
Before their characters hooked up on Thrones, Clarke and Harington locked lips for Rolling Stone, and their immense chemistry was evident way back in 2012.
In 2016, photographer Peggy Sirota shared a pic on Instagram of the actors kissing, along with the caption, "This moment was unforgettable. It was a small crew on that day, just a few of us out in the field. The chemistry between these four was huge, as you can see... I asked them to kiss. I suppose love was in the air, and I was just lucky enough to be there." Needless to say, viewers all over the world were fanning themselves furiously on account of all the heat that was generated.
But the romance rumors are false.
In her 2017 interview with ELLE, Clarke addressed the plethora of rumors that she's hooked up with Harington in real life too. The actress said being constantly linked to her co-star "literally makes me want to cry, it's so far from the truth," suggesting that they've been nothing more than friends, like, ever.
Clarke calls Harington her counterpart.
Speaking to Variety, Clarke described her working with relationship with Harington, and it sounds low-key adorable. The Me Before You actress explained, "Kit and I are counterparts in terms of experience. We are pretty much the same age, and our characters have had parallel journeys, and we as actors have had parallel journeys. We’ve both done stupid action movies we regret and fabulous things we’re proud of, and we’ve always come back to Thrones."
And that's not all. When Clarke needs a pick-me-up or advice on how to do a scene, she turns to Harington. As she tells Variety, "He’s the person I’d ask, 'How are you handling this? Are you all right?' We were in sync, even if we were filming on opposite sides of the world."
Harington agreed, telling Esquire that he and Clarke "followed the same path" career-wise. "We both came out of drama school and this was our first big show, and we became kind of the ice and fire of it all a bit—the two youngish leads, I guess. Probably the closest to what we were each experiencing was what the other person was experiencing," he told the magazine.
"I think we’re good mates because we, maybe more than anyone else, know what the other one’s going through a bit," he added.
They did most of their bonding when they weren't on set.
Although they'd worked on the same show for nearly a decade, Clarke and Harington didn't appear in the same scene until GoT's seventh and penultimate season. "We would see each other at table reads, but our friendship was based around doing press and meeting each other at Comic-Con or hanging out outside of Thrones," Harington told Esquire.
Harington would pretend to throw up during romantic scenes.
When their characters Jon and Daenerys finally hooked up in Season 7, the actors had some fun with their new onscreen relationship status. As Clarke told Variety, "The first scene we had together, we both just started laughing. Why are you looking at me this strange way and saying these strange lines? You’re my friend!"
Harington similarly told Esquire, "I remember our first scene together was bizarre. We kind of looked at each other and tried not to laugh."
To make matters worse, "Harington would pretend to retch during their scenes," Variety reports, and Clarke would tell him, "Oh, my God, mate. You’re not making this any easier!"
Harington confirmed his hilarious reaction during a behind-the-scenes interview, which you can watch on YouTube, where he says, "I like looking at her and going, 'Oh God, I'm sorry,'" before making retching sounds to the camera.
He also pretends to gag in a BTS scene from filming Season 8, Episode 1 with Clarke, too. (Scroll to 13:50 for the moment.)
Clarke admitted to being just as horrified about their onscreen love scenes, revealing in the YouTube clip, "The reality of what they are to each other, I don’t know how that’s going to… I think [gags] might be the reaction." She's referring to the fact that Daenerys is Jon's aunt, making their romance all kinds of wrong. Clarke continued, "I think they both know it's wrong... I think they both know it's going to cause problems."
They had very emotional reactions to Daenerys's ending on Game of Thrones.
The Game of Thrones documentary The Last Watch features footage from the cast's final table read, including the moment when Harington finally finds out how Clarke's Daenerys dies. (Spoiler Alert: Jon Snow stabs her while they kiss, killing her.) He turns read, leans back in his chair, puts his hand over his mouth, and shoots an emotional look to Clarke from across the table. She gives him an equally expressive face in return. The whole exchange is priceless.
The backstory behind the moment is even sweeter. "I hadn't read the scripts for the final season until the table read," Harington told The Hollywood Reporter. "I wanted to hear them around the table, without having read anything first. I sat on a plane next to Emilia on the way to the read-through in Belfast, and she had read them already, and she was like, 'Shit, Kit. You are in for some surprises.'"
Clarke is close with Harington's wife, Rose Leslie.
In a Vanity Fair profile of Clarke in May 2018, Harington confirmed that any romance between the pair was clearly just for the cameras saying, "If you've known someone for six years and they're best friends with your girlfriend, and you're best friends with them, there is something unnatural and strange about doing a love scene."
Harington is, of course, married to former Game of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie. Clarke attended the picturesque wedding which took place in June 2018. Clarke has even posted selfies taken with Leslie on Instagram, and it's clear that the actresses have a great relationship, free from any man drama.
The actor also told Esquire that he, Rose, and Emilia "have been best mates for years."
Clarke and Leslie also took a trip to India together this summer, which the Daenerys actress shared on Instagram. It's unclear if Harington was in tow, but the getaway looked incredible either way.
Clarke's Instagram photos of Harington are endlessly cute.
While there's definitely no romance between them, the pals are regularly having a blast in real life, and Clarke continues to document it. From the time that Harington pretended to be Daenerys' dragon, to catching him sneaking some food at formal appearances, their offscreen bond is proof that men and women can be friends.
We'll be scrolling through their Instagram posts still not ready for Game of Thrones to end though.
Amy Mackelden is a freelance writer, editor, and disability activist. Her bylines include Harper's BAZAAR, Nicki Swift, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, ELLE, The Independent, Bustle, Healthline, and HelloGiggles. She co-edited The Emma Press Anthology of Illness, and previously spent all of her money on Kylie Cosmetics.
