Helena Bonham Carter and Carey Mulligan have praised protesters for disrupting the UK premiere of their new film, 'Suffragette'.

The 49-year-old actress and her co-star, 30, were temporarily blocked from the red carpet outside the Odeon cinema in London's Leicester Square last night (07.10.15) when more than one hundred activists, campaigning for greater support for victims of domestic violence, jumped the barriers, as smoke bombs and flares filled the air.

But Helena told Sky News: ''I think it's marvellous. That is exactly what the suffragettes were about.

''If you feel strongly enough about something and there's an injustice there, then you can speak out and try and get something changed. It's the perfect response to our film.''

The film tells the story of young laundry woman, Maud Watts, played by Carey, who joins the fight for women to vote and goes to extreme lengths to ensure her voice is heard.

Cary, who recently gave birth to her first child with husband Marcus Mumford, also praised the demonstration, saying: ''It's so great, that's so exciting. People have asked us would you protest now, would you throw a rock? And I keep thinking I wish I could. I would like to be as brave as that. For these women to do that tonight, I think it's awesome.

''I think our (film) industry is a microcosm of the world in general. So our society is inherently sexist and so our industry is but all major industry is.''

Janelle Brown of Sisters Uncut, the group behind the protest, told BBC News: ''We came to the 'Suffragette' premiere today because the struggle is definitely not over. Dead women can't vote.''