SALMA HAYEK has called on male stars to take pay cuts in the name of equality.

“Time’s up,” the Mexican actress said. “You had a good run but it is time now to be generous with the actresses.”

Hayek said inflated fees demanded by some leading actors, whom she did not name, could mean there was less money left for their female co-stars.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, she said “it is not just the producers” who have to change if the huge pay gap is to be closed. “It is actors too.”

Unless they make sacrifices, she said, “It is going to be hard for equality.”

Hayek — who now goes by her married name, Salma Hayek Pinault — was among 82 women who took part in a red carpet protest Saturday.

The 51-year-old said the protest, against female underrepresentation at Cannes and beyond, had been “very meaningful... as a woman [who] has had to go through all the struggles that all women have to go through.”

“The Desperado and Frida” star said her fellow actresses should be “both impatient and patient and continue the pressure” against gender inequality.

“We should have been angrier sooner,” she continued. “We should have come together sooner, because that’s what’s made the difference.”

Speaking about pay, she said, “If actors ask for such inflated fees, it will leave nothing for actresses.

“If the movie’s budget is US$10 million, the actor has to understand that if he is making US$ 9.7 million, it is going to be hard for equality.” During a career talk at the festival, she also said the current backlash against sexual harassment in the film industry meant “men are terrified.”

(SD-Agencies)