Actor William H. Macy, speaking at Sunday's SAG Awards, confirmed he's part of a men's group dedicated to the Time's Up movement.
Speaking backstage at the awards show, Macy advised that "it's hard to be a man these days," referring to the current movement in Hollywood to call out and punish those accused of sexual assault. Also, he revealed that a lot of men feel attacked in the current climate, or that they need to apologize, acknowledging that the men do.
"We had a meeting. A bunch of guys got together under the auspices of Time's Up. That's good for men. Men don't talk enough. And we talked," he said.
The actor won the SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his leading role in Showtime's Shameless, an American retooling of the British show of the same name.
Macy claimed to see significant progress in gender equality in Hollywood, after collecting his statuette. The actor said he's conscious of not throwing a "wet blanket" on things.
"Half the business is women and they're smart and they're hip, " Macy added.
Macy, who has two daughters, reckons it's a good time to be a female working in Hollywood. The business, as he sees it, is moving forward. He also believes pay equality is next on the agenda, describing it as "inevitable."
The actor praised the business for taking the necessary steps to change things for the better. He called out Shameless executive producer John Wells, in particular, for being proactive in making the show's cast and crew look like America.
The two men were actually at the center of a pay disparity dispute just a few years ago, after it was revealed that Macy's costar on the show, Emmy Rossum, had held up production for the eighth season while negotiating for a higher wage than his.
Rossum's character, Macy's daughter on the show, is arguably also the lead. The actress commented at an event last year that her costar had totally supported her in the fight for more money. Likewise, Macy described Rossum's Fiona as the center of the show, telling reporters at that time, it was a no-brainer that she should get paid accordingly.
The SAG Awards were defiantly female-focused this year, thanks in large part to Nicole Kidman's barnstorming speech celebrating her fellow actresses who'd paved the way in the industry before her.
Every single presenter onstage at the event was female, too, because, as noted by SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris, the focus of the ceremony was on women specifically.
