Amy Adams says she knew she was making less than her male costars on “American Hustle”

A new interview in British GQ makes it clear that Amy Adams had a rough time on the set of 2013’s American Hustle, and she’s just now opening up about the movie. Among the issues she had to deal with? Knowing she was being paid less money for the same job as her male co-stars.

Speaking to GQ, the actress admitted “I knew I was being paid less and I still agreed to do it because the option comes down to do it or don’t do it. So you just have to decide if it’s worth it for you. It doesn’t mean I liked it.”

Some of the things that likely made it worth it to Adams were the prestige project, which came with incredible co-stars Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, and Jennifer Lawrence. We’re betting she also placed a lot of stock on the rising star of the director, David O. Russell, but it turns out that may have been part of the struggle for Adams on set. According to the interview, Russell, who is infamous for being bad-tempered, made Adams cry “…not every day, but most. Jennifer [Lawrence] doesn’t take any of it on. She’s Teflon. And I am not Teflon. But I also don’t like to see other people treated badly.. It’s not ok with me.”

Jennifer Lawrence, who tends to be more outspoken than Adams with the press, made no bones about her issues with the pay gap on American Hustle. When the Sony email hack revealed enormous salary discrepancies between Adams and Lawrence and their male co-stars, Lawrence justifiably exploded in an open letter about the poor treatment of women in Hollywood and the difficulty of finding a way to speak about the issue without being labeled “difficult.”

Adams, who tends to be a bit more reticent with the press, takes a slightly different view than her female co-star. “I didn’t speak about it before and I’m probably not going to speak about it forever, because I disagreed with… not Jennifer per se, but people who had opinions on how women should go about negotiating. The truth is we hire people to negotiate on our behalf.”

On the other hand, Adams seems to appreciate the heart of what Lawrence had to say, even if they take different views. “I’m really proud of Jennifer. What I liked is that it was not necessarily about getting paid, or not getting paid… It’s like we [women] have been conditioned to not be controversial, to not cause problems. It’s about finding your voice.”

Let’s hope this lovely actress continues to find and stick to her own voice.