Emilia Clarke’s Russian Is So Good in ‘Ponies’ — Did She Learn the Language?

Acting isn’t as simple as reading a few lines, memorizing them, and swapping out your usual look for a new one. No, the job often requires much more commitment than you might realize. For example, actors might need to spend an extensive period of time learning about a specific culture or studying a person’s life if the film or show is a biopic. Learning a language can also be required if the character speaks one that isn’t their native tongue.

That said, many are wondering if Emilia Clarke, who is clearly British, had to learn Russian to play CIA operative Bea in Ponies because she’s heard speaking it — a lot! Here’s what she’s revealed about it.

Yes, Emilia Clarke did have to learn Russian to play Bea in the Peacock TV series Ponies, and doing so actually took up most of the time she was given to prepare for the role. Before Ponies, Emilia didn't know any Russian, she revealed during her Jan. 12, 2026, interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers. “I had to learn Russian, the lines in Russian,” she explained, adding, “I do not speak fluent Russian.”

She went further into the complexities of learning the language during a January 2026 sit-down with John Arthur Hill on Sirius XM. Emilia revealed that she had spent about six months learning Russian, which, by the way, is considered one of the more difficult languages due to its structure.

Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which the Polyglottist Language Academy calls “the biggest psychological barrier” for English speakers trying to learn it. At the same time, the academy points out some of the features of the language, like predictable pronunciation, no articles, and flexible word order, that make it slightly easier to learn (still sounds pretty tough)!

Emilia revealed that when she first read the scripts, “It’s in English with italics.”

She continued, “And you’re like, ‘It’s not registering in my mind that that’s going to be in Russian.’ So, I’m reading them and reading them, and I’m like, ‘This is gonna be fine.’ And then they send you the shooting scripts, and you’re like, ‘What? That’s so much Russian!’”

She went on to explain that learning Russian for Ponies “turned into a five-step process,” which included hiring a teacher to guide her through it.

During her interview with John, Emilia explained that a teacher was brought in to help her as part of the process of learning Russian for the series. But the first person they hired made her cry on “day one.” She recalled that after reading through scene one, which she thought she had nailed, the teacher came back with, “No … no, no, no.”

Naturally, that relationship didn’t work out, and Emilia says they didn’t continue working with that teacher.

Thankfully, though, she says she “got a really incredible one” named Fabien, who she described as “amazing.”

So if you thought Emilia was fluent in Russian, based on how well she speaks it in Ponies, you can credit her smarts, talent, and dedication to her career for making it happen.