Natalie Portman felt "uncomfortable" handing out the Best Director award at the Golden Globes last month.
Natalie Portman
The 'Annihilation' actress pointedly announced the "all-male nominees" at the prestigious ceremony and she admitted she had chosen her words carefully because she wanted to make a point that female filmmakers had been snubbed without "disrespecting" the nominees who had made the shortlist for the accolade, which went to 'The Shape of Water's Guillermo del Toro.
She said: "I discussed with some of the women I've been working with that they had offered to me to present the director category, but I felt uncomfortable because it seemed to be excluding some deserving nominees.
"And how could I bring attention to it without disrespecting the nominees? Because it's not their fault, and they all made great work. You don't want to not recognise them.
"It's just, why aren't we recognising the people who aren't part of this exclusive club? So one of the women recommended I say that, and it felt like stating something that was true."
And the 36-year-old star - who is active in the Time's Up anti-harassment initiative - thinks it is important to call attention to inequality and make such situations seem "weird".
She added in an interview with Buzzfeed: "That's part of what we're here to do. We have to make it weird for people to walk in a room where everyone's not in the room.
"If you look around a room and everyone looks like you, get out of that room. Or change that room.
"Whether you go to a restaurant, whether you go to your kid's school, whether you go to work -- if you look around, and everyone's not in the room, change that room."
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