In Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke embodied the raw feminine power of Daenerys Targaryen so effortlessly that we almost forgot she wasn’t really the mother of dragons. Now, the 32-year-old actress is showing off an entirely new (and seriously surprising) talent in the latest Last Christmas trailer.
In addition to playing a charmingly sardonic woman, we see Clarke debut her beautiful singing voice in the new trailer. It’s soulful, it’s strong, it’s totally unexpected. Just see for yourself.
Clarke plays Kate in the film, a down on her luck hard-drinking aspiring singer who’s grappling with a health scare that’s left her feeling shut off from friends and family. Kate works as, of all things, an elf in a British Christmas store run by a woman played by Crazy Rich Asians star Michelle Yeoh. She lives with her overprotective mother, Adelia (Emma Thompson), and is eking her way through life until she meets an interesting man named Tom (Henry Golding). Slowly but surely, it appears that Tom convinces Kate to face her problems head on and start living a life she’s proud of.
As the name suggests, the holiday film is based on the music of Wham!, who are famous for their hits “Last Christmas” (duh) and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” Still, director Paul Feig has been quick to point out that the movie isn’t a literal translation of the poppy Christmas song.
Reacting to fan theories that Golding’s character will literally give Clarke’s character his heart (hey, that’s how the lyrics go), Feig admitted to Radio Times, “It makes me laugh because it’s this romantic comedy and then everyone is treating it like it’s The Matrix. It’s just a lovely Christmas movie!”
Great. Now we’re going to have “Last Christmas” stuck in our head all day.
