Los Angeles, Jan 31 (IANS): Actress Cate Blanchett has showered praise on actress Jennifer Lawrence for an essay that she wrote on gender inequality.

The "Truth" actress hopes the 26-year-old star's essay, in which she revealed that she had been paid considerably less than her male co-stars in "American Hustle", will encourage women in other industries to take a stance on the issue, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"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'," Empire magazine quoted Blanchett as saying.

"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," she added.

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

"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,a she said.