Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett is proud of Emma Watson.

The 'Blue Jasmine' star has praised the 'Harry Potter' actress for her speech on gender equality for the United Nations (UN) in September this year.

Speaking to Porter magazine, the 45-year-old actress said: "I was so f***ing proud of Emma Watson's speech at the UN.

"It was brilliant, such an incredible use of her airspace, and really passionate. It was fantastic."

Emma - who is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador - recently spoke out to encourage gender equality through the HeForShe campaign.

Speaking at the campaign's launch earlier this year, Emma said: "I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women six months ago and the more I've spoken about feminism, the more I have realised that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop ...

"It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are."

Meanwhile, the 24-year-old actress recently admitted that she was very "nervous" ahead of her UN speech because she wasn't sure how she'd be received by those in attendance.

She said previously: "I was very nervous. It wasn't an easy thing for me to do.

"It felt like, 'Am I going to have lunch with these people, or am I going to be eaten? Am I the lunch?'"