Warner Bros
For the filmmakers adapting Jojo Moyes’ bestselling weepy romcom novel Me Before You, casting was of the utmost importance. The story – which centres around Will, a handsome, debonair man confined to a wheelchair after a debilitating accident, and his happy-go-lucky carer Lou – relies almost entirely upon chemistry.
Finding the right actor and actress to play Will and Lou was paramount. Hopefuls endured endless rounds of chemistry reads and skype auditions before the hallowed few ended up face to face with director Thea Sharrock and Moyes, who wrote the script for the film – for a face-to-face audition.
Your BFF Emilia Clarke was one of those lucky few. And of course, we all know how this story ends: Khaleesi got the job, and appears front and centre in the film as the perfect reincarnation of the nerdy, awkward, totally endearing Lou. How? Because she totally nailed her audition. Like the Mother of Dragons would.
“It was really really important that we got [the cast] right, that we cast the right people,” said Sharrock in an interview with British newspaper The Telegraph. “And that in many ways was the biggest challenge.”
So when Clarke turned up to her audition in a fluster, spilling coffee everywhere, apologising for her “onion breath” on account of her detoxing, onion-heavy cleanse – well, let’s just say she booked the job right then and there. Plus, Sharrock added, Clarke was the only actress who sounded authentic in one of the film’s most important lines, when Lou exclaims that she is “not built for running”.
“As soon as we met Emilia, we knew,” Moyes said.
All hail, Emilia Clarke!
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