Emilia Clarke Compares Being a Woman in Hollywood to ''Dealing With Racism''

Game of Thrones star talks about the difficulties of being a female in the male-dominated film industry

By Meg Swertlow Jun 28, 2017 9:25 PMTags

Emilia Clarke may not have chosen the best words to express herself...

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Clarke, who plays the oh-so-badass Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, opens up about the difficulties of being a woman in the male-dominated film and television industry. 

In the sit-down, the Mother of Dragons talks about being treated differently in the industry because of her gender. "I feel so naive for saying it, but it’s like dealing with racism," said Clarke.

The actress continued: "You’re aware of it, and you’re aware of it, but one day, you go, 'Oh, my God, it’s everywhere!' Like you suddenly wake up to it and you go, 'Wait a f--king second, are you . . . are you treating me different because I’ve got a pair of tits? Is that actually happening?'"

She says this realization came to her after being in the industry a while.

"It took me a really long time to see that I do get treated differently. But I look around, and that’s my daily life," said the 30-year-old.

photos
Game of Thrones Season 7 First Look: Check Out the New Pics
HBO

The Brit, who was Esquire's Sexiest Woman of the Year in 2015, also mentioned that her femininity doesn't mean she doesn't have the brains to back things up.

"Yes, I’ve got mascara on, and I also have a high IQ, so those two things can be one and the same," said the star.

Additionally, Clarke told the mag that she'd ideally like to open up a production company that that's "full of nice, funny women" to combat the sexism she's encountered.

She joked that it would be a lot like this: "Yeah, I’ve got a pair of tits, and aren’t they lovely? Aren’t they great? You do too! They’re great, you’re in the club!"

 

The actress does say that despite the sexism, she's "lucky" to be playing a strong warrior like Khaleesi in GoT, especially in times like these.

"Women have been great rulers. And then for that to be a character that I'm known to play? That's so f--king lucky. Anyone who seems to think that it's not needed need only look at the political environment we're all living in to be like, 'Oh, no, it's needed. It is needed.' "

Game of Thrones returns Sunday, July 16 on HBO.