Game of Thrones Star Nathalie Emmanuel Joins Team Speedo

If you’re not a Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire nerd, skip paragraphs one and two.  Otherwise, buckle up.

Valar Morghulis.

If you watch Game of Thrones on HBO, or have read the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, you probably know what that means.  For those of you who do not, it’s a greeting common in the Free Cities and other parts of the world that were once part of the Valyrian Empire.  That is, before “The Doom” destroyed the city of Valyria in apocalyptic fire and ash, leaving none but House Targaryen, who had already settled the Westerosi island of Dragonstone–which took its name from the Targaryens and their dragons–before conquering the Westeros mainland.  All of Westeros south of the Wall, that is.  Save for House Martell of Dorne.  Dorne joined the Targaryen kingdom through political marriage….

I trust you’re caught up now?

Ok, so fast-forward a few hundred years and you reach the events of Game of Thrones season three episode one Valar Dohaeris–the reciprocal greeting to valar morghulis–and book three, A Storm of Swords.  Remember those Targaryens? Well, they’re still relevant at this point in time, and it’s at this point in the series when we meet the newest member of Team Speedo, actress Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays the role of Missandei on HBO’s adaptation of author George R.R. Martin’s fantasy epic.  In Game of Thrones Emmanuel serves as interpreter to Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons, who is portrayed by British actress Emilia Clarke.

Emmanuel, having portrayed fictional characters in Game of Thrones and The Fast & Furious franchises for years, gives fans an opportunity to get to know her as a normal person trying to stay fit while balancing a demanding career in a new commercial from Speedo.  Emmanuel, a runner, takes on the Speedo #Make1KWet challenge, which is designed to get people in the water for at least one hour per week.  With the #Make1KWet challenge Speedo challenged runners, posing the question: can they swim 1 kilometer in the same time they run 5 kilometers?

As Emmanuel narrates we learn she hit a wall with her terrestrial exercise, prompting her to swim.  Swimming helped her sleep, worked a variety of muscles running didn’t, and helped her improve her running times and distances where she was previously stonewalled.  Emmanuel improved her swimming technique working with one of the fastest swimmers of all time, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Florent Manaudou, of France.  As an actress who is always on the go, Emmanuel finds a necessary respite in swimming, where she is both soothed and challenged.

If you don’t see her at the pool, find Emmanuel in season seven of HBO’s Game of Thrones which premiers on July 16th, or in the forthcoming installment of The Fast & The Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious, which hits theaters on April 14th.

The video, via an Instagram repost of SpeedoUK by Emmanuel, shows the commercial.