Sandra Bullock On Wage Gap & Sexism: Women Are Thought Of As ‘Less Than’ – How Is That OK?

Sandra Bullock is adding her voice to the call for equality for women.

Speaking with Access Hollywood at the junket for her latest film “Our Brand is Crisis,” the actress responded to Bradley Cooper’s decision to be open about his salary info with his female co-stars so they may negotiate for equal pay after Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence were paid significantly less than the male stars in “American Hustle.”

“I hope he’s gonna be open – I’ll kick his ass if he’s not! (Laughs) No, Bradley has always been very balanced in that world,” she told Access guest correspondent Scott Evans. “I mean, you want to hate Bradley and it’s really hard. He speaks French [too]. Enough already!

READ: Salma Hayek’s Powerful Gender Equality Speech: ‘They Can’t Ignore Us Anymore’

“Bradley is annoying on that level,” she joked, before getting serious about the gender wage gap. “But on the other hand, look. The curtain has been moved to the side, and people were called out on their behavior towards women. I think that’s a good thing.”

The Oscar winner said the wage gap, with women all over the world getting paid less than men for the same capabilities/jobs, is indicative of a much larger problem.

“My thing isn’t so much pay, because that’s a by-product. My thing is, why are we thought of as less than, and why are so many people OK with that behavior?” she explained.

MORE: Jennifer Lawrence Calls Out Sexism & Pay Gap

“You know, [people will] stand up and be loud for other things but they’ll sort of laugh-off the [gender] joke. And I’m like, ‘That hurts, but that’s always hurt. No one seems to care or wanna do anything about it, so I’ll just put my head down and keep forging forward.'”

Once Sandra became a mother (she adopted son Louis in 2010), her outlook changed and she was no longer able to sit passively and ignore discrimination against women.

“I realized once I had my son [that] putting my head down and not making any noise is a detriment to him. So I had to own that. And I was a little bit ashamed,” she said. “And I hope the way I live by example says what I expect from our culture in terms of equality – not just towards women, but you know, other cultures, other religions, same-sex…  We have discussions constantly in our household [about] how are we the same but different?”

See Sandra, along with Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Joaquim de Almeida and Zoe Kazan, in “Our Brand is Crisis” – in theaters in October 30.

— Erin O’Sullivan