Actress Geena Davis has spoken of how "frustrating" she finds gender inequality in the media and film industries.
Davis, who played Thelma Dickinson in 1991 feminist hit Thelma & Louise, said that despite playing some iconic female roles, none of the films she has appeared in have made a change.
"Having been in some roles that really resonated with women, I became hyper-aware of how women are represented in Hollywood," she told The Guardian.
"After Thelma & Louise, which was pretty noticed and potent and significant, [people were saying] 'This changes everything! There's going to be so many female buddy movies!' and nothing changed.
"And then the next movie I did was A League of Their Own, which was a huge hit and all the talk was, 'Well now, beyond a doubt, women's sports movies, we're going to see a wave of them because this was so successful'.
"That's balls. It took 10 years until Bend It Like Beckham came out. So, there was no trend whatsoever."
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The actress, who founded research organisation The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2006, added that she is saddened by how little opportunity women are given to feel "empowered" by female characters.
"The big takeaway I got from Thelma & Louise was the reaction of women who had seen the movie being so profound, so different," she said.
"It was overwhelming and it made me realise how few opportunities we give women to feel excited and empowered by female characters, to come out of a movie pumped.
"It's frustrating and it certainly made me angry at different times… It's tough."
Davis also slammed gender imbalances in top jobs in the wider world, saying: "That ratio is everywhere. US congress? 17% women. Fortune 500 boards are 17%. Law partners and tenured professors and military are 17% female. Cardiac surgeons are 17%. That's the percentage of women in the Animation Guild. Journalists, print journalists, are 19% women.
"So why, across all these major sectors of society, does this percentage of women in leadership positions stall at about the same range? I mean, it's freaky when you start examining it."
She's not the only actress speaking out about gender inequality in the arts industry, as Sienna Miller recently revealed she quit a play due to the significant pay gap between herself and her male co-star.
"The only way is to make a stand," Mille told Marie Claire. "We are going to have to make sacrifices to make change. I want to turn up and feel dignified."
Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
