Los Angeles, Nov 30 (IANS): Actress Carey Mulligan is impressed with Jennifer Lawrence for starting a discussion about the pay gap between genders in Hollywood.

"I think it's a good thing for someone like Jennifer to speak out; it means an awful lot to women. Sure, there's been cynicism toward her speaking out and the fact that she makes a lot of money, but she is completely and selflessly rising above that," Mulligan told deadline.com. 

"(The discrepancy) is inherently unfair and she has an enormous platform to speak out against it. Men in Hollywood look up to her because she is powerful. She's using that platform to correct something that isn't right. It's a long overdue conversation and it's admirable what she has done. This is an age-old issue that's in every part of society," she added.

Mulligan's comments come after oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet, called discussions about pay "vulgar", and Lawrence's "American Hustle" co-star Jeremy Renner, said: "it's not (his) job" to help actresses negotiate their salaries.

However, Lawrence's frequent collaborator Bradley Cooper, praised her for speaking out about the gender pay gap in the movie industry and insisted he was more than willing to help resolve the issue.

"Usually you don't talk about the financial stuff, you have people. But you know what? It's time to start doing that," he added.