Liam Neeson had just two words to describe Hollywood’s wage gap between actors and actresses: “f—ing disgraceful.”
“There’s a lot of discussion about it, and a lot of healthy and necessary discussion about it because the disparity sometimes is f—ing disgraceful,” Neeson told the Associated Press while promoting his new movie, The Commuter.
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Neeson said he’s seen women make a stand regarding the issue, but urged that men in Hollywood need to stand up for actress equality as well.
“We’re starting, and it’s starting with these extraordinary actresses and brave ladies,” Neeson said. “We, as men, have got to be part of it, you know? We started it, so we have to be part of the solution.”
During the interview, it was suggested that Neeson take a pay cut to “help even things out.” However, the action star shut down that idea, saying “that’s going too far.”
“There has to be parity,” Neeson said.
The wage gap was a hot topic during Sunday’s Golden Globes, where multiple actresses participating in the “Time’s Up” movement called out E! News during interviews after host Catt Sadler left in December for being paid considerably less than her male co-host.
“I mean, I miss Catt Sadler,” Will & Grace actress Debra Messing said in an interview with E!. “And so, we stand with her. That’s something that can change tomorrow. We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.”
The pay gap issue popped back into headlines on Wednesday, when it was revealed that Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for working on the re-shoots of Ridley Scott‘s film All the Money in the World. Wahlberg’s co-star Michelle Williams, meanwhile, was paid a mere $80 a day.
Neeson’s new film The Commuter hits theaters on Friday.