Emilia Clarke to Headline Spy Thriller Series Ponies

Emmy Award-nominated actress Emilia Clarke has been tapped to lead the upcoming espionage thriller Ponies, which Peacock has ordered straight to series.

Clarke, who is best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, is set to play Bea in the series.

“Moscow, 1977. Two “PONIES” (“persons of no interest” in intelligence speak) work anonymously as secretaries in the American Embassy. That is until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, and the pair become CIA operatives,” the series description reads. “Bea (Clarke) is an over-educated, Russian-speaking child of Soviet immigrants. Her cohort, Twila, is a small-town girl who is as abrasive as she is fearless. Together, they work to uncover a vast Cold War conspiracy and solve the mystery that made them widows in the first place.”

Who’s involved in Ponies?

Ponies is co-created by Susanna Fogel (The Spy Who Dumped Me) and David Iserson (Mr. Robot), with the former serving as the show’s executive producer, director, and co-writer. Iserson, on the other hand, serves as the co-writer, executive producer, and showrunner.

In addition to starring, Clarke will serve as one of the executive producers alongside Jessica Rhoades (Station Eleven), Fogel, and Iserson, with Katherine Bridle and Alison Mo Massey as co-executive producers. Ponies is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Clarke, who is currently in production on the limited series Criminal, has some impressive film and television credits under her belt. This includes Spike Island, Dom Hemingway, Terminator Genisys, Me Before You, Voice from the Stone, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Above Suspicion, and Last Christmas. She also voiced Malicia in the 2022 animated fantasy comedy, The Amazing Maurice.

Most recently, Clarke portrayed G’iah in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s limited series Secret Invasion as well as Rachel Novy in the sci-fi rom-com The Pod Generation.

Other details about Ponies, including stars joining Clarke, remain under wraps.