Emma Stone described playing Billie Jean King in the new Battle of the Sexes film as "empowering".
Battle of the Sexes, set in 1972, dramatises the real-life showdown between US Open champion King and ex-pro Bobby Riggs, played by Steve Carrell.
At the time King was 29 and Riggs was 55, yet despite being retired from tennis for 14 years Riggs was adamant that he could beat any woman.
His campaign was decorated with sexist, misogynistic comments including: "Billie Jean King is one of the all-time greats. She's a superstar. She's ready for the big one. But she doesn't stand a chance against me."
King eventually beat Riggs in straight sets, 6-4 6-3 6-3 in front of more than 30,000 fans and is now described as a pivotal moment in women's sport.
Speaking to Sportswomen at the European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Stone said: "[Playing King] was very daunting at first and then it became so empowering and exciting.
"Learning about her life and what she was going through in that time period and meeting her now with 40, almost 45 years of retrospect and hindsight, she is so fully formed now and it's so amazing to see her then and how she has transformed and it was just so inspiring."
In the same year as Battle of the Sexes, King formed the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the US Open became the first tournament to offer equal prize money.
Now all Grand Slam tournaments offer equal prize money, but in the remaining tournaments women earn 20 per cent less than men.
King said: "When you see us [in the film] hold up that dollar bill, that is the birth of women's professional tennis, that moment, that is it.
"Now people like Sloane Stevens have got a 3.7 million dollar cheque when she won the US Open, so players today our living our dream.
"I really wanted to inspire the younger generations to go forward and fight for equality," she added, "because every generation does have to start over, every generation does have to fight for it."
Battle Of The Sexes will be in UK cinemas on 24th November.
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