Sienna Miller was told to "f*** off" when she asked to be paid the same as a male co-star.

The 40-year-old actress was offered "less than half" the salary a man was being given for a stage role in New York City several years ago but when she raised the issue with an "extremely powerful" Broadway executive, she was stunned by their response.

She told Britain's Vogue magazine: “I said to the producer, who was extremely powerful, it’s not about money — it’s about fairness and respect, thinking they’d come back and say, ‘Of course, of course.’ But they didn’t.

“They just said, ‘Well f*** off then.'”

Sienna - who declined to name the play because she didn't "want to be mean" - initially "felt terrible and embarrased" but ultimately the confrontation proved to be a "pivotal moment".

She said: “I realised I had every right to be equally subsidised for the work that I would have done.”

Years later, the late Chadwick Boseman famously reallocated some of his salary so the actress' fee could be met on their 2019 movie '21 Bridges' and Sienna praised her co-star - who died of cancer in 2020 - for his "extraordinary" gesture.

She recalled: "[I told him] 'What you did was extraordinary and meant the world.’

"He came up to me when we wrapped and said, ‘You got paid what you deserved.’”

The 'Anatomy of a Scandal' actress - who has 10-year-old daughter Marlowe with former partner Tom Sturridge - is pleased with the way the industry has changed in recent times.

She said: "[Actors who are] 10 years younger have the word ‘no’ in their language in a way that I didn’t.

"[Now] if you say, ‘I don’t feel comfortable’ in front of any form of executive, they’re s******* their pants. You’re included in a conversation about your level of comfort. It’s changed everything.”