Emilia Clarke on Facing Gender Inequality: ‘It’s Like Dealing With Racism’

Emilia Clarke might be the most powerful woman on TV as the dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, but offscreen, even she is the victim of sexism.

The actress is on the cover of the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone, where she talks about gender discrimination in Hollywood — women being given fewer lines than men, the time commitment caused by hair and makeup, and more.

She spoke about having this epiphany, saying, “I feel so naive for saying it, but it’s like dealing with racism. You’re aware of it, but one day, you go, ‘Oh, my God, it’s everywhere!’”

And even though Emilia did call herself out for being naive, she still was criticized online for equating her version of discrimination to racism.

She continued talking about becoming aware of the issue, saying: “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.”

Game of Thrones has been the target of sexist claims as well due to numerous degrading and abusive scenes involving women.

Last year, Emilia defended the show, arguing that it’s “a depiction of women in so many stages of development.”

She went on: “There are women depicted as sexual tools, women who have zero rights … and then there are women who are literally unstoppable and as powerful as you can possibly imagine.”

Season 7 of Game of Thrones returns to HBO on July 16.

In other entertainment news, Lindsay Lohan is all for a “Brit Pack” reunion:

Read more from Yahoo Celebrity:

• 6 Reasons Why Hassan Jameel Is Rihanna’s Perfect Summer Fling

• Jamie Foxx Doubles Down on ‘Sleepless’ Diss

• 9 Things We Learned From Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian’s Love Story