Game of Thrones" shooting schedule has typically kept her fairly landlocked in the European locations that comprise Meereen, but there's nothing like Comic-Con International to lure the cast and creators of HBO's fantasy phenomenon to the sunnier shores of San Diego.

While the actress, who plays Daenerys Targaryen's right-hand woman, Missandei, was making the rounds at the pop cultural celebration, she chatted with Moviefone about her role's increasingly high-profile place in the pantheon of powerful genre women and her hopes to swing a sword or two before too long.

Moviefone: Give me the highlight -- the "pinch me, I'm dreaming" moment -- of your Comic-Con experience, where you got to geek out over somebody.

Nathalie Emmanuel: Several times throughout the last couple of days. I saw Sigourney Weaver -- that made me really happy. I didn't get to talk to her, but I just admired her from afar and was so happy.

But I got to do a panel with Lucy Lawless. I watched her all growing up, so that was a pretty monumental moment for me. And then she took a selfie and then posted it on her Instagram and tagged me in it, so I feel really cool now. My friend texted me like, "Oh my goodness, it's you in a picture of Lucy Lawless!" So I was so happy.

What does it mean to you to kind of join this elite group of women in genre entertainment? They were breaking down barriers, things are a little better for your generation, but still you've got to fight for the piece of ground you get.

Absolutely.

So to be a part of that now, and to be with these women who paved the trail -- tell me about that experience.

I mean, it was so great. They have so many years of experience and they've gone, as you say, for my generation it's maybe slightly easier, but these women have kind of fought the fight for many, many years, and it's so inspiring to me, and I just sort of sat with these women like, "Wow!" Yeah, I was in awe of them all really. To be sat next to them and be on a panel as like an equal in a way was just such an honor.

During your "Game of Thrones" panel, you spoke eloquently about the friendship between Daenerys and Missandei. Tell me about your friendship with Emilia Clarke and that partnership at work behind the scenes.

Yeah, Emilia is such a doll. We get along so well. We have a really lovely time working together. I guess in our storyline, it's mostly guys, and then it's just us two. And it's really, really nice to have that female companion and just like friend, and we can take time off set to sort of do girl time and go life download or whatever. So that's really, really amazing to have.

She's a really sweet girl, and she's actually amazing to watch work. I've learned a lot from her and I really admire her and her choices that she's made in her career as a young actress. I'm just so proud to be her friend and work with her. She's just a wonderful person. And we have so much fun. We have such a giggle.

What's a goofy off-screen thing that you guys bond over? Is there some shared love of something fun?

Yeah, it's like Beyoncé and a good cup of tea, to be honest. Just sit and have a good old chat over a cup of tea. Yeah, we really like Beyoncé. So yeah, there's that.

Do you want more action, or do you want more romance for Missandei? You have a romance with Grey Worm that we got to see it a little bit more than we have recently.What are you hoping for to get to play with her?

I mean, playing some action would be really fun, just because it's something outside of Missandei's realm of what she's done before. War is coming, so maybe she'll have to. Who knows? She'll have to learn some sort of skill.

But the romantic side is just such a sweet thing and I love it. Their storyline is so, so, so endearing, and I always enjoy working with Jacob [Anderson]. He's just wonderful. So to maybe explore that some more would be really fun. It's so nice to watch. Whenever I see our scenes together, or our little moments together, I'm always like, "yay." It makes me really happy.

Just to come full circle, what's the best fan encounter you had at Comic-Con?

Well, there's been many because everybody's just showing us so much love! I've really just been so happy to have people be high-fiving me and be like, "Yeah, you're representing strong women." I had someone high-five me and be like, "Yeah, thank you for representing women of color in 'Game of Thrones.'"

It's a real interesting time we're living in right now. There's definitely a movement, especially for women and with the most recent unrest with racial unrest and tensions. It's really, I feel so proud to represent both of those demographics like in "Game of Thrones." So it's been so nice to have people receive me so well and like want to high five me and be like,"Hey!" It's just so great.