Cate Blanchett thought Jennifer Lawrence's essay on gender inequality in Hollywood was "necessary".

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett

The 'Truth' actress hopes the 26-year-old star's piece of work - in which she revealed she had been paid considerable less than her male 'American Hustle' co-stars - will encourage women in other industries to take a stance on the issue.

She said: I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was timely, brave, and necessary.

"I applaud her for saying that because, forget the film industry for a second, it encourages women in other industries to say, 'You know what, I'm not receiving equal pay for equal work here.'

"You're not saying, 'I want to be paid squillions of dollars'. That's not her point.

"Her point is, I'm drawing lots of audiences to this film, as much as the men. We're all doing equal work.

"It's a basic, basic thing."

The 'Carol' actress believes there will come a day when gender inequality is no longer a problem in Hollywood.

She told Empire magazine: "I hope [it changes] tomorrow. I can [imagine change], I can. Because it does benefit everyone and it benefits audiences, which is why we all do this in the first place.

"Female-led films are interesting to men and boys and they make money. Women are great actors and producers, they're good distributors and people want to see the stories because they're interesting."