She famously spoke out against disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein as the #MeToo movement gathered pace.

And Cate Blanchett has now insisted that the industry still has some way to go, not just in continuing the progress the campaign made, but also in addressing its persistent gender pay gap.

Speaking just days before the release of spy thriller Black Bag, in which she stars opposite Michael Fᴀssbender, the actress, 55, made her feelings clear on inequalities within Hollywood and in society in general.

She told The Guardian: ‘We’re nowhere near equal pay! Talking about it noisily doesn’t mean action has happened. I mean, there’s a greater concentration of wealth than perhaps there ever has been in human history. And we can see where that’s got us.’

In 2018, Cate joined dozens of women in claiming Sєxual misconduct at the hands of Weinstein, saying she ‘got a bad feeling from him’ as she ‘wouldn’t do what he was asking me to do’.

Asked about her remarks last month that the movement ‘didn’t really ever take root’, the Australian star gave some thoughts on what the next steps should be.  

Cate Blanchett has insisted the film industry still has some way to go, not just in continuing the progress the #MeToo campaign made, but also in addressing the persistent gender pay gap (pictured on Monday in New York City)

On Monday, Cate stepped out into Midtown wearing a light grey suit and matching shirt and holding onto a newspaper after speaking out about gender inequality 

‘When you talk about equity and inclusion, that means the people who’ve had all the toys need to share,’ she said. ‘They’ve got used to that being normal. And so you have to be very vocal in order to rebalance it.

‘The conversation had just begun and suddenly everything was being discredited and undermined, so we’re still having to fight for those same basic conversations.’

Last month the two-time Oscar-winning actress insisted that despite years of widespread conversations sparked by the Me Too movement, there has not been enough progress.

‘Everyone talks about the #MeToo movement as if it’s well and truly over, and I think well, it didn’t really ever take root, to be honest,’ she told NET-A-PORTER’S digital тιтle PORTER.

‘People were seeking to dismantle and discredit those voices that were only just beginning to come out from under the floorboards into the light. I find it quite distressing the way that it hasn’t taken root.’

In a 2018 interview with Variety the actress was asked if she had every been Sєxually harᴀssed by Weinstein and she said ‘Yes’.

Cate and Weinstein had a long working history, going as far back as 2000’s Oscar-nominated film, The Talented Mr Ripley.

But she said in the 2018 interview that working with him was never something she pushed for.

In 2018, the actress joined dozens of women in claiming Sєxual misconduct at the hands of Harvey Weinstein (pictured, in 2007), saying she ‘got a bad feeling from him’

Read More Cate Blanchett insists the Me Too movement ‘didn’t ever take root’ in Hollywood

‘I don’t think Harvey will be making films with anybody. He was brought on as the producer on many films that I had absolutely no say on. I didn’t have a creative or functional relationship with him,’ she said.

In 2018 a team consisting of Sofia Izquierdo Sanchez, of Huddersfield University, John S Heywood, of Wisconsin University, and Maria Navarro Paniagua, of Lancaster University, established that male movie stars were paid £850,000 ($1.1m) more for a film than similarly-experienced female co-stars.

As part of Dirty Films – the production company that she and her husband Andrew Upton co-founded with film producer Coco Francini – Cate and Coco recently spearheaded Proof of Concept, a program that offers financial support, mentoring and platform opportunities to women, trans and non-binary filmmakers.

‘It’s about scaffolding. [It’s about] those things being seen and being heard,’ she explained. ‘Because a homogeneous industry is not a healthy industry. [It is] so beset with a lot of nefarious and tragic forces.

‘But don’t you think, no matter what industry you work in, it’s hard to know where to place one’s energy at the moment…? There’s so much that is bewildering and heartbreaking and enraging about the situation we find ourselves in.’

Cate has been speaking just days before the release of spy thriller Black Bag, in which she stars opposite Michael Fᴀssbender (pictured, on Sunday)