Emilia Clarke thinks the entertainment industry’s gender pay gap is "shocking".
The 31-year-old actress – who stars as Daenerys Targaryen in the hit HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ – has always been paid the same of her male co-stars, but she’s admitted to being shocked to discover that so many women in the business are paid less than their male counterparts.
She shared: "On ‘Game of Thrones’ I’ve always been paid the same as my male co-stars. But it’s shocking when you start to dig deep and see it’s rife in the industry. You have to fight harder for that stuff."
Similarly, Emilia has grown tired of being asked about playing "strong female roles", as she doesn’t consider the distinction to be necessary.
The London-born star explained to OK! magazine: "I’m like: ‘I’m going to tell you how it feels to play a woman.’ The end. That’s it. Find another adjective, damn it! I’m just playing women. Enough already with the strong woman. I get frustrated with that. You don’t get strong me unless it’s physically strong."
Emilia recently made her debut as Qi’ra in the new Ron Hoaward-directed ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’.
But the actress has broader career ambitions than simply appearing in front of the camera, revealing she plans to launch a production company of her own one day.
Speaking about her long-term aspiration, Emilia said: "I’ve just got to finish a few things first.
"I feel strongly about wanting to make choices when I can say: ‘This is something I’ve found, I’ve chosen and put all of my creative juices behind.’ I want to tell good stories.
"I’d love to try directing too, because there’s only so long you can feel uncomfortable just being in front of the camera."
Emilia Clarke brands gender pay gap ‘shocking’
