Gemma Arterton, the Made In Dagenham stage star, said “any man worth their soul” should be supporting an equal pay campaign outside Parliament.

The former Bond girl is starring in the West End musical adaptation of the story of the female workers at Ford’s Dagenham plant, who went on strike over equal pay in 1968.

She joined the original Dagenham workers and politicians at a rally timed to coincide with a Labour bid to force big firms to publish the difference in pay between male and female employees.

She said industry is behind the times, in reference to leaks from Sony Pictures that revealed stars Jennifer Lawrence and Amy McAdams were paid less than their male co-stars in American Hustle.

The actor said: “Yeah, it is lagging behind the times. I think there’s something interesting in that we don’t like to talk about what we earn because it’s not the done thing. But actually we should because then we can say, ‘hang on a minute – that’s not right’, and challenge it. That’s part of the reason equal pay is not in place, because we are shy to speak up. That’s why, if we can anonymously get companies to publish that, we will be able to see for ourselves.”

Veterans of the Dagenham protest said they were not surprised that women are still not getting equal pay, “because men are too powerful”. They added that more women should be in Parliament and more women like former Labour politician Barbara Castle were needed.

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