Emilia Clarke almost backed out of sharing her aneurysm story, but "knew it was [her] duty".
The 32-year-old actress revealed last month she had suffered two life-threatening brain aneurysms after filming wrapped on the first season of Game of Thrones - on which she plays Daenerys Targaryen - and has now said she almost decided not to tell her story because she was too frightened, but pushed forward because she wanted to help others.
Speaking to Extra at the premiere for Game of Thrones eighth and final season yesterday, she said: "Two weeks before, I was like, 'I don't think I can do it.'
"You just want people to think you can do the job that they gave you cause my God there are 20,000 other women that can do it as well. Yes, we are still fighting that fight, so showing any weakness is frightening.
"I knew that I had to tell this story because I wanted people who are suffering from it to know that this is also what brain injury looks like, and that you can do it. I wanted people to not feel alone if they did. I knew it was my duty, but it's hard."
Emilia spoke about her battle in an essay for the New Yorker, where she explained that in February 2011 she was in a workout class when she started feeling "shooting, stabbing, constricting pain" in her head and was rushed to the hospital for a three-hour surgery.
