In a business that puts a premium on youth and marginalizes women who dare to stick around past the age of 40, Patricia Clarkson's star just seems to be getting bigger with every passing year. On "Salon Talks," the Hollywood veteran, who has long been speaking up against sexism and wage inequality, spoke about the industry's changes over the last several months. "We've all been in survival mode as women," she told Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams. "So often in my life, I've talked about being lucky. No man in his late forties, fifties, sixties, says, 'Wow, I'm lucky.' I'm not lucky to be working in my fifties; it's what should be happening. Men are always working."

After launching her career with small roles in films like "The Untouchables," Clarkson found breakout success in the early 2000s in critical hits including "Far From Heaven" and "The Station Agent," as well as her two time Emmy-winning turn on "Six Feet Under." Now, Clarkson's costarring with Kristin Scott Thomas and Timothy Spall in writer/director Sally Potter's new pitch black comedy of manners, "The Party."