The call for wage equality is particularly resonant in Hollywood now.

It was revealed in December that Jennifer Lawrence, star of the massively successful Hunger Games franchise, made less than her male co-stars in American Hustle. When asked about this fact, which was exposed in a leaked email from the Sony hack, Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal shifted the responsibility to the women themselves, saying earlier this month, "Women shouldn't work for less money. They should know what they're worth."

In the Oscars press room, Arquette did not agree. "I think we federal laws that are comprehensive," she said when asked about Pascal's comment. "We need to pass a constitutional admentment in the United States of America, so we can pass the ERA once and for all."

(A version of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would ensure gender equality under the Constitution, first came before Congress in 1923. Gender equality is still not guaranteed by the Constitution.)