“Boyhood” star and first-time Oscar winner Patricia Arquette continued her onstage speech about equality for women backstage following her win.
“We don’t have equal rights for women in America,” she said bluntly backstage in front of reporters. “When they wrote the constitution, they didn’t intend it for women… There are huge issues at play that affect women.”
On stage, after running down a list of thank-you’s heard often over the past few months — her famous siblings, director Richard Linklater and costar Ethan Hawke — Arquette surprised at the end of her speech by invoking the journey of her single-mom character in “Boyhood.”
“To every woman who gave birth, to every citizen who has paid taxes … this is our time to have wage equality and equal rights for women,” Arquette said.
The message was carried on as she took to a microphone for the second time after her win. Arquette spent time shouting out her charity, GiveLove.org, which funds sanitation projects around the world, while simultaneously calling out shallow red carpet questions like “Who are you wearing?”
“My dress was designed by my best friend [Rosetta Getty]… Instead of getting a manicure, which I was supposed to do this morning for that dreaded Mani Cam, instead, I ended up trying to pull pictures because we started a sweepstakes this morning for our charity to do ecological sanitation in the world,” she said.
Arquette said she did not see the moment — which has since gone viral — of Meryl Streep applauding her acceptance speech, though she did give the acting legend a huge afterwards.
“She’s the queen of all actresses, patron saint of actresses,” Arquette complimented the “Into the Woods” actress, who was nominated in the same category.
Arquette got into specifics about the lawmaking proess that would have to be changed in order for there to be true equality for women in the country, and refused to take the bait when one reporter tried to ask her to call out ex-Sony boss Amy Pascal for paying women lower wages than their male counterparts, as exposed in leaked e-mails during the Sony hacking.
“We need federal laws that are comprehensive,” Arquette said rather than call out anyone in particular. “People think we have equal rights; we won’t until we pass a Constitutional amendment in the United States of America where we pass the ERA once and for all and women have equal rights in America we won’t have anything changed.”
Oscars Red Carpet Arrivals (Photos)
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Jennifer Lopez ("Boy Next Door")
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Meryl Streep ("Into the Woods")
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Lady Gaga and Keira Knightley ("The Imitation Game")
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Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club")
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Justin Theroux ("The Leftovers") and Jennifer Aniston ("Cake")
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Scarlett Johansson ("The Avengers")
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Nicole Kidman ("Paddington")
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Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game") with wife Sophie Hunter
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Jennifer Hudson
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Kerry Washington ("Scandal")
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Jessica Chastain ("A Most Dangerous Year")
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Director Ava DuVernay ("Selma")
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Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave")
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Reese Witherspoon ("Wild")
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Viola Davis ("How to Get Away with Murder")
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Supermodel Chrissy Teigen
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Jennifer Aniston ("Cake") and Emma Stone ("Birdman")
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Ellar Coltrane
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Rita Ora ("Fifty Shades of Grey")
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Chloe Grace Moretz ("Kick-Ass")
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Cate Blanchett ("The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies")
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Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper")
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Zoe Saldana ("Guardians of the Galaxy")
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Sienna Miller ("American Sniper")
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Naomi Watts ("Birdman")
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Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl")
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Recording artist Adam Levine with model Behati Prinsloo
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Julianne Moore ("Still Alice")
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Marion Cotillard ("Two Days, One Night")
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David Oyelowo ("Selma") and Michael Keaton ("Birdman")
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Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher") with wife Nancy Carell
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Melanie Griffith with daughter Dakota Johnson ("Fifty Shades of Grey")
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Laura Dern ("Wild")
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Margot Robbie ("Focus")
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Joanna Newsom ("Inherent Vice") and Andy Samberg ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine")
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J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash")
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Carmen Ejogo ("Selma")
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Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris with husband David Burtka
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Recording artists Faith Hill, in J. Mendel, and Tim McGraw
Recording artists Tegan Quin and Sara Quin ("Everything Is Awesome" from "The Lego Movie")
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Model Karolina Kurkova rocks Marchesa
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Anna Kendrick ("The Last 5 Years") in Thakoon
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Josh Hutcherson ("The Hunger Games")
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Gina Rodriguez ("Jane the Virgin")
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Jamie Chung in Yanina Couture
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America Ferrera in Jenny Packham
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Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck
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Kelly Preston and John Travolta
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Ryan Seacrest
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TV personalities Charissa Thompson and Mario Lopez
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Michael Strahan
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Set decorator Tatiana MacDonald ("The Imitation Game") and production designer Maria Djurkovic ("The Imitation Game")
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Michael Keaton with "Birdman" director Alejandro González Iñárritu
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"Good Morning America" TV personality Robin Roberts
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Composer Hans Zimmer ("Interstellar")
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Disney Channel star Zendaya
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Kevin Hart ("Get Hard")
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John Stamos ("Full House")
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Oscar statues outside the entrance of the Dolby Theatre
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Gwyneth Paltrow
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See what all of the Oscar nominees, presenters and guests are wearing as they arrive at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the 87th annual Academy Awards