'Men need to step up' Cold Feet's Hermione Norris slams sexual inequality in the workplace
COLD FEET actress Hermione Norris has hit out at sexual inequality in the workplace and demanded that "men step up to the plate" and start asking why they're still being paid more than women.
Hermione - who plays Karen Marsden in the hit ITV series, which is set to return to screens on Monday evening - said that "sexual inequality" is the one thing she would change about the world, if she could.
She explained: "I’d like to see men step up to the plate and start asking why are they being paid more than women.
"Fathers need to stand up for daughters and male colleagues for female colleagues.”
Hermione - who is married to and has two children with TV writer and producer Simon Wheeler - also spoke about turning 50 in December, insisting that she's become "more confident" as she's gotten older.
First look at the new series of Cold Feet
She went on: “I love the liberation you get as a woman as you get older. I’m 50 in December and think that’s a great age to be – the life experience you have behind you is a gift.
"I think you gain confidence to be yourself and not worry what anyone else thinks. I do feel grateful to be at this stage of life, married and to have children.
"When I was younger I didn’t think that I’d necessarily ever meet someone and have kids. I was so focused on being an actor.”
Hermione also added of the much-talked about Cold Feet reboot: “When it was talked about, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea because it was so well loved and I didn’t want us to undo that.
"I think it’s best to keep moving forward in life. As an actor, you get used to leaving things behind and I’d put the series firmly behind me.
"But Mike Bullen, the creator and writer, rang me and persuaded me it was a good idea. He said it would be really interesting to revisit the characters at this time in their lives, in their fifties. And once I’d made the decision – like the rest of the cast – we went for it.”
Read the full Hermione Norris interview in the October issue of Prima, which is on sale now.
Cold Feet returns to ITV on September 5.