"There are still a lot of things that really aggravate me about the industry," says 30-year-old Lee, who dropped her surname, Kershaw, from her professional name when she switched her focus from modelling to film.

"For every script I get, a male actor friend will get five. Every script with a female, there's one female to every 10 men. On top of that there's the gender pay gap issue that's a huge problem worldwide - that's not just an acting issue. In my workplace, I get paid less purely for the fact I am a female. We [women actors] work the same hours, often more because we have more hours in hair and make-up. The demand is the same and the work is the same ... it's crazy to do a film with a man who is sometimes in less scenes but he gets paid more for no other reason than he has a c--k."

Still, Lee, who got her screen break in George Miller's 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road and starred opposite Ryan Corr in the upcoming 1%, which she describes as "a Shakespearean take on a bikie gang", is optimistic that women's standing is improving.

"I wish it had come earlier but iI am so glad it's happening at a time I can be part of the movement," she says.

"I hope that I can be part of standing together with women to make that change and it's something I can find a way to be more a part of because I am very passionate about women's issues."

In 2017, Lee campaigned on social media for same-sex marriage and said two of her female friends had become engaged since the law passed, and two male friends who married in the US now had their marriage recognised in Australia.

"A lot of people are angry about the way the Government did it. But if it was going to happen that way it was important people supported it," she says.

Lee, who was raised in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, will be the special celebrity guest of beer brand Stella Artois at next Saturday's Portsea Polo, which kicks off the 2018 social calendar and is shaping up as summer's answer to the spring racing carnival on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula (think the Northern Beaches with more Volvos).

With private yachts, gourmet food and more chartered helicopters per capita than you can wave a mallet at, Lee says she's excited about her first time at the polo field. Just don't expect her to wear white.

"A friend of mine was telling me I'd see some people dressed to the nines. I've told the people [organising her outfits] to have a black rack as well."

Stella Artois' brand manager, Brian Phan, said Abbey Lee was a bold but perfect choice for the brand's polo marquee, which will have a riviera theme and highlight food and beer matching.

"She's someone who seeks out new experiences. Her foray into acting is something new, something to be admired," he said.

After 10 years in the modelling spotlight, including campaigns for Calvin Klein, Lee says learning the acting game felt like being "a sponge".

"I always felt somewhat unfulfilled and couldn't work out why. When I discovered film that was my biggest 'a-ha' moment."