Does the term ‘strong male character’ sound familiar? No, didn’t think so. But if you pop into your Netflix account you’ll see a category for ‘strong female leads’ and you’ll see the label weaved into film and TV reviews. And actresses have finally called time on the “sexist” term.

During the Cannes Film Festival, actress Emilia Clarke – who’s best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones – condemned the label after a journalist asked her about playing a “strong female character” in Solo: A Star Wars Story (aka the spin-off film about a young Han Solo).

“If it’s not strong, what is it? Are you telling me there’s another option, that there’s a weak option?” Clarke said. “You think a lead in a movie is going to be a weak woman? It just doesn’t even bear having the conversation, so enough already with the strong women, please.”

Clarke then used male leads as an example by pointing out that they’re rarely referred to as “strong men,” unless they’re physically strong.

“Unless I’m packing guns I don’t know about, then let’s change that,” she continued.

Instead, Clarke suggested we all approach the conversation differently by asking questions such as “What does it feel like to play someone with power?” or “How does it feel to play a female lead in a big blockbuster movie?”

“Take the ‘strong’ out of it, find another adjective, damn it,” Clarke continued. “I’m just playing women.”

Why Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton hate the label “strong female character”