--- description: While the people of Westeros are preparing for the White Walkers, their offscreen counterparts are celebrating birthdays. title: See Emilia Clarke's Game of Thrones Set B-day Party Pictures image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See How Emilia Clarke Celebrated Her Birthday on the _Game of Thrones_ Set ## Video: A History of Dragons [Watch (HLS stream): A History of Dragons](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aX3EGE0r.m3u8) (2:51)  _Published 2016-04-22. Professor Christopher Fee discusses the history of dragons in our culture and their relevance today._  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Oct 24, 2016 5:32 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Oct 24, 2016 5:32 PM CUT It may not officially [be winter yet](http://time.com/4410857/game-of-thrones-season-7-premiere/ "undefined") but the weather conditions are dreary enough in [_Game of Thrones’_ filming locations](http://time.com/4429346/game-of-thrones-season-7-cast-news/ "undefined") for the cast to be hard at work filming season 7\. But it’s not all business on set. While the people of Westeros were busy preparing for the coming onslaught of the White Walkers this weekend in the fictional world of the show, their offscreen counterparts were celebrating a more joyous occasion: [Emilia Clarke’s](http://time.com/4358529/emilia-clarke-game-of-thrones-surviving-fame/ "undefined") birthday. The now 30-year-old actress — who plays Daenerys Targaryen — took to Instagram Sunday with a photo of the festivities, sharing a picture in which she stood between two people — presumably showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss based on her caption — dressed in Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants costumes. “Please note: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS,” she joked. “And show runners. And a brand new thirty year old. And Jon Snow’s mum.” Nathalie Emmanuel — who plays Dany’s right-hand woman Missandei — also marked Clarke’s special day online, posting a throwback selfie of her and her costar. “Happy birthday to my lovely friend [@emilia\_clarke](https://www.instagram.com/emilia%5Fclarke/ "undefined")… have a wonderful day (not waking up at 4.30am),” she wrote. “And enjoy being around those who love you. May lots of giggles be had…” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4542451/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-birthday/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4542451/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-birthday/"},"headline":"See How Emilia Clarke Celebrated Her Birthday on the Game of Thrones Set","datePublished":"2016-10-24T17:32:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:55.735Z","description":"The Mother of Dragons turns 30","url":"https://time.com/4542451/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-birthday/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","game of thrones","celebrities","TV","emilia clarke","Daenerys Targaryen"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4542451/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-birthday/","name":"See How Emilia Clarke Celebrated Her Birthday on the Game of Thrones Set"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A History of Dragons","description":"Professor Christopher Fee discusses the history of dragons in our culture and their relevance today.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aX3EGE0r/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-22T15:01:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aX3EGE0r.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4542451/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-birthday/","duration":"PT2M51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4542451/game-of-thrones-emilia-clarke-birthday/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```