Christina Ricci says fame is "such an unnatural state"

She said: "It's such an unnatural state and something that happens to so few people, that I don't know how anyone could tell another person how to handle it.

"I played a lot of mental games with myself when I was a child to not feel the pressure of it or the strangeness of it all the time. I think it's nearly impossible unless you're really good at ignoring everything else."

And the 36-year-old actress finds it difficult to be "taken seriously" at times as she is a "small, young-looking actress".

She added to Elle.com: "The sad truth is that it's usually the other women who are not taking you seriously. The reason misogyny doesn't really seem to lessen as much over time as other social problems is because I think women really buy into it and perpetuate it in a lot of ways. I'm excited about this next generation coming up because they don't seem to have those issues.

"I do have to fight to be taken seriously. Being very small and young-looking and an actress? Oh my god. People are just like, 'Well, this one's an idiot. Clearly.' I'm learning how to manage that. I think that for me, though, in terms of fighting stereotypes or fighting to be seen in a different way, this show itself is a huge example of that.

"I'm not a traditional leading lady. I don't look like one. I don't act like one. I've never in my life been cast in this sort of romantic lead. But you have to fight for yourself, nobody is going to do it for me. I'll do it myself."