"You're aware of it, and you're aware of it, but one day, you go, 'Oh, my God, it's everywhere!'"
By Lin Taylor
LONDON, June 30 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sexism is so prevalent across Hollywood it is "like dealing with racism", according to "Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke who plays the popular television character Daenerys Targaryen.
The 30-year-old British actress, who has had a leading role in the Emmy award-winning medieval fantasy series since it premiered in 2011, said she was often the only woman on set and would have fewer lines than her male co-stars.
"I feel so naive for saying it, but it's like dealing with racism," she said in an interview with Rolling Stones magazine.
"You're aware of it, and you're aware of it, but one day, you go, 'Oh, my God, it's everywhere!' 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," Clarke added.
Last year, women and girls comprised just 29 percent of protagonists among the 100 top-grossing U.S. films, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, California.
Clarke said it was important for strong women to be represented on screen, such as her character Daenerys Targaryen, a queen vying for the throne in the fictional series.
"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,' " she said.
(Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
