William H Macy has said many men in Hollywood feel “under attack” following the Me Too movement that has rallied against sexual harassment and abuse.
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Macy was asked how men should conduct themselves as he discussed his Screen Actors Guild award victory on Sunday.
“It’s hard to be man these days. I think a lot of us feel like we are under attack and that we need to apologise and perhaps we do,” Macy, 67, said.
“I’m blessed that I’m in this business. We had a meeting, a bunch of guys got together under the auspices of Time’s Up and that’s good for men. Men don’t talk enough. Men don’t talk to other men.”
After winning performance by a male actor in a comedy for his role in the US version of Shameless, he said he was “thrilled” that women are on the “ascendant”.
He also praised the industry for fixing workplace safety “in an instant”, and added: “When it comes to equality and pay, it’s inevitable and it’s going to happen and it’s going to happen quickly.”
Sterling K Brown, who won actor in a drama series for This Is Us, was also asked about how actors should behave.
He said that he has taken stock of himself having “male privilege” and has taken time to recognise aspects of his life that he takes for granted.
“It’s nice when people who are at the top take a second to look and consider what it’s like for the minority,” Brown, 41, said.
“And what the Time’s Up movement has been about for me is really taking stock of the fact that there’s certain things that I have not registered and I can be more conscientious and hopefully it’s registered with other men in a similar way.
“There’s a responsibility that we have to make sure our work environment is comfortable for all. Because it’s not always about maliciousness and nastiness, sometimes it’s just about downright thoughtlessness and we can all stand to be a bit more thoughtful.”