Emilia Clarke called out the Hollywood industry’s double standards around ageism, saying women face harsher judgment as they grow old. The actress also discussed the pressure women face to meet unrealistic standards.
Emilia Clarke criticizes Hollywood ageism, saying women face harsher judgment than men as they grow older
Emilia Clarke, in a Marie Claire cover interview, discussed Hollywood’s double standards. She spoke about different treatments, saying, “You want us to look the same? You want to just be a population of the same face and the same body? Come on, we’re human! We’re gonna change. The difference, I think, is that still we in a society are going to criticize women faster than we will criticize men.”
Clarke added that women often struggle to find meaningful roles in their 40s and 50s, unlike their male counterparts.
She said, “Yeah, and that keeps me up at night. I try and work out how not to place my sense of worth on other people’s sense of expectations or views. And it’s really hard to do it. The key to complete misery is comparison. I’m not saying I don’t do it, but I try and catch myself, and I try [to] find strength in who I am.”
Clarke spoke about unrealistic beauty standards set by the industry, saying women are expected to look a certain way. She said, “The expectations of image across the board, like for men and for women, is just completely untenable.”
The Game of Thrones actress also reflected on her personal struggles she experienced after filming Season 1. She suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2011, another in 2013, and soon after lost her dad. (via Daily Mail)
She also reflected on her struggles; she said, “When I was filming Game of Thrones, I had zero curiosity about myself, about the experience, about anything. I was just in shock. I froze – for 10 years. Season one wrapped at Christmas; by February, I was in hospital with my first brain hemorrhage. So my first press tour was me on morphine.”
Clarke underwent brain surgery twice before losing her father, Peter, to cancer.
