Game of Thrones Has Always Bent the Knee for Emilia Clarke (Regarding Equal Pay)

Here is Khaleesi (Emilia Clarke) emerging from the fire of the temple of the dosh khaleen (the public eye?), unburnt, and unscathed, and unbothered until this very moment by the battle for equal pay being waged in the very industry in which she works.

“On Game of Thrones, I have always been paid the same amount as my male co-stars,” she said in an interview on Tuesday at Cannes. “It was my first job and I was not discriminated against because I was a woman, in my paycheck.”

How nice for her—Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons—to not have to worry about salary.

According to Clarke, the revelation that some of her peers—notably Claire Foy from The Crown—were getting paid less than their male costars was “shocking, actually shocking,” she said. (Since Foy plays the titular crown in question on her series, it would stand to reason that she would get paid more if not equal to her co-star Matt Smith at this point.)

Because Clarke says she was fairly compensated, her advice on equal pay isn’t as pointed as it might’ve been, but still helpful:

“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?,’” she said of handling negotiations. “You just start to fight harder for that stuff.”

The takeaway seems to be to do your research and ask questions, but also, be Emilia Clarke.