Emma Watson opened up about the "big problem" in the film industry in a Q&A on Facebook yesterday (March 8).

Speaking on International Women's Day from Facebook's London offices, the actress spoke out about gender inequality in the film industry, saying that only 7% of directors in Hollywood are women.

She said: "Why are women not telling their own stories? Women are still in a place where we need permission to be ourselves… and to lead."

The Beauty and the Beast star also highlighted the negativity surrounding the word "feminism", saying: "I think people associate it with man hate. That's really negative. I don't think that's what feminism is about that at all.

"Men think it's a women's word… [but] if you stand for equality, then you're a feminist."

The UN Global Goodwill Ambassador for Women, who launched the gender equality campaign HeForShe, opened up about the threats she received following her UN speech on gender equality in September 2014.

She explained: "I think a lot of people that were close to me knew gender equality was an issue but didn't think it was that urgent, that it was a thing of the past.

"When they saw the minute I stood up talking about women's rights I was threatened, they were really shocked; my brother was very upset. This is a real thing that's happening now, women are receiving threats.

"I was raging, it made me so angry. I was like, this is why I have to be doing this. If anything, if they were trying to put me off it, it did the opposite."

The 24-year-old actress added that small gestures can go a long way in terms of gender equality sharing a story about a date she went on recently, "I actually took a man out for dinner and I chose the restaurant and I offered to pay. It was really awkward and uncomfortable - I'm just going to say that. It was not going down well!

"He was just like 'I'm not really sure about this.' It was making him a bit tetchy," she added. "But the cool thing about it was we were both willing to have the conversation about why it was awkward and why it was uncomfortable. We were able to have the dialogue 'It's OK. I chose the restaurant as it is my favourite restaurant and I would love to pay. But next time you chose the restaurant and you pay'."

You can watch the full Q&A on Watson's Facebook page here.