Amy Adams Does Not Want to Be Your 'Headline About Pay Equality' 

It's that time of year when those most likely to walk away with trophies this awards season are gathered by major entertainment publications for round-table discussions of their work and aspirations. This year, The Hollywood Reporter'sStephen Galloway hosted a discussion with heavy hitters Annette Bening, Taraji P. Henson, Natalie Portman, Naomie Harris, Isabelle Huppert, Emma Stone, and Amy Adams. And when Galloway asked the women the loaded question about whether they think there's enough diversity in Hollywood or roles for women over 40, they collectively replied that they're tired of answering questions that should be asked of the people in power in the industry -- the producers (as of 2015, 33 percent of Hollywood films had no female producers).

"You're not asking who you should be asking ... the producers' roundtable, 'Do you think minorities underrepresented, do you think women are underpaid?'" Adams fired back at Galloway when he asked about the lack of roles in Hollywood for women over 40 and for people of color. "We're always put on the chopping block to put our opinion out there," Adams added.

The star of 2016's Arrival and Nocturnal Animals was speaking from experience when she said she'd been pushed to put her opinion out there. Adams and her American Hustle costar Jennifer Lawrence were at the center of a debate about the gender pay gap in Hollywood when the Sony email hack in 2014 revealed that they'd been paid significantly less than their male costars Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper.

While actresses including Patricia Arquette (who addressed the issue in her 2015 Oscar speech for her Boyhood win), Meryl Streep, and Lawrence, who wrote a piece about the pay gap for Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter, have publicly addressed the gap, Adams had remained mum until just last year when she reluctantly, finally spoke about it in an interview with British GQin which she revealed she knew she had been paid less than the men in American Hustle.

In that interview, Adams balked at having to answer the question about pay but also praised Lawrence for addressing the issue of how women are expected to be nice and to not ask for more than what they're given in Hollywood. Lawrence wrote in her Lenny Letter piece that she was angry with herself for not negotiating a better deal. She touched on an age-old problem of likability that Adams praised. "If I'm honest with myself, I would be lying if I didn't say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight," Lawrence wrote. "I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled.'"

What's even worse than the fact that actresses are continually pressured by the press to answer questions that could land them in hot water with the people who make movies, is that Galloway had already been shut down by Henson and Huppert regarding diversity and roles for women.

On issues of diversity in Hollywood, Henson said that she personally hadn't had trouble finding work lately, despite an Oscars boycott last year when, for the second year in a row, no people of color were nominated in the acting categories. She did emphasize that pay was an issue. "Have we seen enough representation of African-American stories? No. But, has Hollywood been horrible to me?" Henson said. "No. I've worked. Did I get paid what I deserve is the question we should be talking about."

That's when Galloway seized the opportunity and pressed Huppert (nominated for an Oscar this year for Elle) to basically concur with him that England and France do a better job than Hollywood with creating roles for women of color and for women over 40. She bluntly replied, "I'm a little embarrassed to always answer this kind of question because I find it misogynistic."

Even then, Galloway didn't get it. "Is the question misogynistic or is the industry misogynistic?" he asked, and that's when Adams let loose on him to ask the people who actually make those decisions.

With the history of the Sony hack and her pay grade for American Hustle public knowledge, Adams rightly didn't appear to be worried about being "liked" when it came to Galloway's questions posed to the actresses. "Why don't you ask [the producers] and then have their statements be the headline and press?" Adams continued as the women at the roundtable nodded in agreement. "I don't want to be a headline anymore about pay equality."

Watch the full Hollywood Reporter roundtable with actresses below.