Helen Mirren On Sexism In Hollywood: Actress Backs 'The Girls'

Helen Mirren is speaking out. At this weekend's Empire awards, honoring the best in film, Mirren offered a defense of women in film.

"Skyfall" director Sam Mendes accepted the "Legend" award for his work in the industry, but Mirren took issue with his acceptance speech, The Guardian reports.

"I don't want to unduly pick on Sam Mendes, but when he spoke about his inspirations earlier this evening, I'm afraid not a single one of the people he mentioned was a woman," Mirren said, according to The Guardian.

"Hopefully in five or 10 years, when Sam's successor is collecting their Inspiration Award, the list will be slightly more balanced in terms of sexual makeup," Mirren added. "In the meantime, this one is for the girls."

Mirren, who also accepted a "Legend" award at the ceremony, was addressing Mendes' nods to male inspirations such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ingmar Bergman, E! reports.

Mirren has spoken about the problem of sexism in Hollywood before, telling the Daily Beast in 2010, "It’s amazing, isn't it? You just had to put up with it. It was tough when I was younger; it was like an albatross on my back but I just found a way to navigate it. I thought, 'They can think what they like and I’ll show them through the work that I do,' which is what I did."

[via E!]