She won the hearts of audiences playing headstrong Daenerys Targaryen in Game Of Thrones.

And Emilia Clarke is no doubt overjoyed to play such a steely female lead as she reiterated in an interview with Harper's Bazaar the importance of gender equality.

The 29-year-old actress told the publication all about her strong mother - before revealing she is not approached by men a lot despite her pin-up status as the fantasy queen.

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Legs eleven: Emilia Clarke is no doubt overjoyed to play such a steely female lead as she reiterated in an interview with Harper's Bazaar the importance of gender equality

Emilia, who is blazing the promotional trail with her new film Me Before You, sizzled in a stunning shoot for the magazine, in which she showed off her endless legs while draped off a ladder on a beach.

Keeping things in the beach theme she posed for two further shots with an idyllic ocean backdrop in which she larked around with a youthful glow about her.

In her accompanying interview, Emilia discussed having to prove herself around men, saying: 'I’m normally surrounded by dudes. Doing Me Before You meant I didn’t have to be continually proving myself in a man’s world, having to try and force people to listen to me.'

Stunning: The 29-year-old actress told the publication all about her strong mother - before revealing she is not approached by men a lot despite her pin-up status as the fantasy queen

'I’ve got a really strong mum. I was brought up thinking that men and women are equal. It’s only as I’ve got older that I’ve been like: “Mum! What the f**k? Why are they treating me differently because I’ve got a pair of tits?”’

While she is certainly a strong woman with a legion of enamoured admirers, Emilia admitted she struggles to capture male attention - particularly last year.

She said: 'I don’t get hit on a lot. Last year I could have been wearing a sandwich board and ringing a bell and nobody would have noticed!’

The stunning star also spoke of the perils of fame and her awareness of its fleeting nature: 'It will go away, without a shadow of a doubt. Everyone goes in peaks and troughs.

Queen: She won the hearts of audiences playing headstrong Daenerys Targaryen in Game Of Thrones

'The balance is having the confidence to go “OK, I’m going to take that good thing, and try and believe two per cent of it and just be in that moment. Just being present, instead of looking over your shoulder” For now I’m in a lovely spot.’

In Me Before You, Emilia stars opposite Sam Claflin as a Louisa, a small town girl who forms a bond with a paralyzed man in her care.

Speaking of the contrast between her role in GOT and Me Before You, she explained: ‘I spent my time on Game of Thrones growing into an adult, but Louisa shows my more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed side.

Starring role: In Me Before You, Emilia stars opposite Sam Claflin as a Louisa, a small town girl who forms a bond with a paralyzed man in her care

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'On a personal level, it’s been really nice to allow myself to just be me, and she is a heightened version of that. I’m not Khaleesi. I stoop!’ (she doesn’t). Later, she will joke that it’s a pleasure to finally play a part where nobody is trying to kill her.'

In a recent interview, the pretty actress spoke candidly about her new role, in which she revealed she is far more like Lou than any other fierce character she has ever played.

'It's funny with these strong female roles,’ she said on USA TODAY. 'I'm really quite clumsy, say the wrong thing all the time and am awkward at the best of times.'

'My friends and family have seen this other person every single day.'

Meanwhile, director Thea Sharrock went on to praise both Clarke and Claflin's performance in the new romantic venture.

'Sam literally plays the part with no movement below the neck,’ she said. ‘All he had really was facial movements. That was a challenge.'

Me Before You has been slated for release on June 3.