If you haven't yet heard of HBO's soon-to-be epic "Game of Thrones," get thee to a bookstore stat! Or, for those intimidated by 800-page books, check out the network's "Making Game of Thrones" site or one of the most comprehensive fan page's online, Westeros.
The new TV series, which premieres in April, looks primed to be the next great show everyone talks about. Think "Lord of the Rings"-meets-"The Tudors" or a medieval "Sopranos." Based on the "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy novels, it's all about power and lust. The cast is full of high-caliber actors, many who will be familiar faces, including Sean Bean, Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage.
But before we get too carried away with hyperbole, MTV News had the privilege to chat with a few members of the cast, as well as the man behind the magic himself, George R.R. Martin, at the TCA press tour.
First up was adorable and enthusiastic young actress Emilia Clarke, who plays one of the most dynamic and unknowingly dangerous characters in the series, Daenerys Targaryen (pronounced Dan-AIR-ee-us Tar-GAR-ee-en). Without giving away too much, Dany (as she is commonly called) is one of many characters who are involved in a few racy scenes, and given the fact that her character is still a teenager when she engages in those racy activities, we asked Clarke if she had any reservations about portraying those aspects of her character.
"Obviously, knowing it was HBO and knowing it was going to be 100 percent tasteful, totally legit, everything is all wonderful," Clarke explained. "And knowing the character, getting to grips with the character, knowing what needs to happen and what needs to be shown, as a young girl it's obviously a huge thing and obviously really scary," she revealed.
Clarke added that she quickly got over her brief moments of insecurity.
"You just overcome it, because as soon as I'm in the character that's it: You're her, you're not yourself," she said. "And they did it beautifully, they did it tastefully. I'll watch it first before my dad watches it," she joked.
Does her dad know how much of his daughter will be shown onscreen? Or what the character goes through?
"It was a dialogue with my mom, and my mom would tell my dad," Clarke said. "And my brother doesn't know at all," she added, laughing.