Cate Blanchett is optimistic about the future of women in Hollywood.

The famously outspoken actress believes that we are closer to achieving gender equality in the movie business — a change she credits to female consumers, rather than male executives. “Female audiences are driving the change,” Blanchett says in a new interview with Australian Vogue. “Women don’t stop consuming cultural product[s] once they stop menstruating.” She also commented on the pay gap between male and female actors as revealed by leaked Sony emails: “People were surprised? There are countless industries around the world where women in top positions are not equally remunerated for equal work.”

Of course, this is not the first time the Australian actress has criticized sexism in Hollywood. As we’ve previously written, Blanchett “has been so consistently vocal about the need for more movies by and about women that she might be angling for a mid-life career change as a Women and Hollywood blogger.” Perhaps most memorably, she used her 2014 Academy Awards acceptance speech to criticize “those in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences.”

Blanchett currently co-stars in “Cinderella,” a film with a female protagonist that’s aimed at girls and women. The live-action take on Disney’s animated classic has earned nearly $260 million worldwide so far, making it one of 2015’s biggest box-office hits and yet another example of a female-led movie with huge profits. So it bears repeating: It’s time to stop foolishly clinging to the idea that female-centric films represent niche experiences.

[via Salon]