Emilia Clarke was "shocked" to hear about pay inequality issues, as she says she's always been paid the same as her male co-stars on 'Game of Thrones'.
Emilia Clarke
The 31-year-old actress stars as Daenerys Targaryen in the hit HBO fantasy drama, and has said she has never experienced gender inequality when it comes to her pay on the show.
She said: "On 'Game of Thrones,' I have always been paid the same amount as my male co-stars. It was my first job and I was not discriminated against because I was a woman, in my pay cheque."
The beauty then commented on recent revelations of gender pay gaps, including the discovery that Claire Foy was paid less than Matt Smith on 'The Crown', despite her playing the lead role.
Emilia said the discoveries were "shocking, actually shocking."
She added to Variety magazine at the 'Women In Motion' panel at Cannes Film Festival: "You start to dig deep and see where it is, rife in the industry. So I think it's mainly in the beginning, just be aware of that and going, 'Can you just check?' You just start to fight harder for that stuff."
Emilia's comments come after it was claimed Claire Foy would be receiving £200,000 in back pay to plug the gender pay gap on the Netflix series in which she played Queen Elizabeth, as it was revealed she was paid £10,000 less per episode than her co-star Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip.
Claire previously revealed how the gender pay gap "opened her eyes" and says the ordeal has stopped her from being "naive" about her pay.
She shared: "It definitely opened my eyes to a lot. And I certainly won't be naïve about those things. It's really opened my eyes about what I am allowed to have an opinion about, and what I'm allowed to stand up for myself about.
"And I think that's really changed my approach to myself and other women in this industry. It's been only a positive thing - even though, embarrassing."
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