Even the formidable Claire Underwood has had to battle pay disparity.

Robin Wright reflected on her fight for equal pay during her time on House of Cards, telling Variety at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival on Monday that it was “difficult” to try to attain the same pay as her costar Kevin Spacey.

“When I said, ‘I think it’s only fair because my character became as popular as [Spacey’s], they said, ‘We can’t pay you the same as an actor, so we will make you exec producer and you can direct. We will give you three different paychecks,'” Wright recalled. “I asked, ‘Why can’t you pay me as an actor?’ ‘Because you didn’t win an Academy Award.’”

But getting angry “wasn’t going to change anything,” Wright conceded. “That has been the protocol for years — it just is. If you say, ‘Why did so-and-so female not get the same amount as Will Smith?’ They say, ‘It will increase after you win.’ Nomination, not so much,” she said. “Why does it have to do anything with a raise?”

The star did indeed end up directing 10 episodes across seasons 2 and the sixth and final season, calling the gig a “gift.” Wright shared, “It was the camera operator on House of Cards who said, ‘Why don’t you just try?’ I learned so much on that show. I didn’t feel any pressure. I was encouraged to do it.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Netflix for comment.

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The Emmy-winning political thriller, which served as Netflix’s first big foray into original shows, starred the embattled Spacey as Frank Underwood, an immoral politician who exacted revenge against those who’ve betrayed him alongside his equally conniving wife Claire (Wright), a lobbyist and CEO of a nonprofit.

Wright first opened up about the pay disparity back in 2016, sharing on stage from a Rockefeller Foundation event, “Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time. So I capitalized on it. I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public.'” Praising the series for featuring such a prominent female character, she also said,  “There are very few films or TV shows where the male, the patriarch, and the matriarch are equal.”

Business Insider reported in 2014 that Spacey made $500,000 an episode, while Forbes reported the following year that Wright made approximately $420,000.