17 Female Actors Who Have Spoken Out About Being Paid Less Than Their Co-Stars

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"I’ve been accredited by my manufacture astatine the highest levels, and that inactive didn’t construe to adjacent compensation."

1. Nina Dobrev, who played Elena and respective of her doppelgängers successful The Vampire Diaries, precocious revealed that she was paid little than her antheral co-leads Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley for the duration of her six-season tally connected the show. She said, "It was a spot of a tricky concern due to the fact that my declaration lone said to play Elena, but I was playing aggregate characters, which doubled my workload. I had to beryllium connected acceptable for treble the magnitude of time, I had to memorize treble the magnitude of lines."

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2. In 2014, Sony was hacked, and it came retired that Jennifer Lawrence was paid little than Bradley Cooper for her enactment connected American Hustle. At the time, she said, "I would beryllium lying if I didn’t accidental determination was an constituent of wanting to beryllium liked that influenced my determination to adjacent the woody without a existent fight. I didn’t privation to look 'difficult' oregon spoiled.'"

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Jennifer was besides paid $5 cardinal less than her Don't Look Up co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. She told Vanity Fair, "In different situations, what I person seen — and I’m definite different women successful the workforce person seen arsenic good — is that it’s highly uncomfortable to inquire astir adjacent pay. And if you bash question thing that appears unequal, you’re told it’s not sex disparity, but they can’t archer you what precisely it is."

3. Octavia Spencer revealed that erstwhile she was successful negotiations for the Netflix bid Self Made, based connected the beingness of the archetypal pistillate Black millionaire Madame C.J. Walker, she had to get assistance from shaper LeBron James to negociate adjacent pay. Octavia said, "I deliberation my extremity is to marque definite that each women of colour get adjacent pay, and each women get adjacent pay. The lone mode to bash it is to person these conversations, to speech numbers with your costars."

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4. In 2019, Michelle Williams testified earlier Congress astir her experiences with the sex wage gap. She revealed that she was paid little than $1,000 for reshoots for the movie All the Money successful the World, while her co-star Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million. Michelle said, "I’ve been a moving histrion since the property of 12. I’ve been accredited by my manufacture astatine the highest levels, and that inactive didn’t construe to adjacent compensation." For his part, Mark donated his wage to Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, which offers assistance to radical who've experienced sex-based favoritism astatine work.

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5. In 2017, Natalie Portman opened up astir being paid 3 times little than her No Strings Attached co-star Ashton Kutcher. Natalie told Marie Claire U.K., "I knew and I went on with it due to the fact that there’s this happening with ‘quotes’ successful Hollywood. His [quote] was 3 times higher than mine, truthful they said helium should get 3 times more. I wasn’t arsenic pissed arsenic I should person been. I mean, we get paid a lot, truthful it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy." She added, "Compared to men, successful astir professions, women marque 80 cents to the dollar. In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar."

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6. Jessica Chastain was reportedly paid $7 cardinal for her relation successful The Martian, compared to Matt Damon's $25 million. But she aboriginal told HuffPost that she was really paid adjacent less. Jessica said, " I made little than a 4th of that successful reality, truthful determination is simply a immense wage spread successful the industry."

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7. Arden Cho, who played Kira Yukimura successful the MTV bid Teen Wolf, declined to instrumentality for the movie reunion owed to wage disparities with her achromatic co-stars arsenic the show's lone pistillate bid regular of color. According to Deadline, she was offered "half the per-episode wage projected to her 3 counterparts, starring to her determination to pass."

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8. In 2016, Gillian Anderson revealed that she spent 3 years warring for adjacent wage with David Duchovny during the archetypal 1990s tally of The X-Files. Then, erstwhile the bid was revived, she says she was offered fractional of David's wage to return. Gillian told the Daily Beast, "Even successful interviews successful the past fewer years, radical person said to me, 'I can't judge that happened, however did you consciousness astir it, that is insane.' And my effect ever was, 'That was then, this is now.' And past it happened again! I don't adjacent cognize what to accidental astir it." She was yet capable to negociate for adjacent wage for the bid revival.

9. Priyanka Chopra Jonas told BBC successful 2022 that she has ne'er received adjacent wage with a antheral co-star for her enactment successful Bollywood films. "I've ne'er had wage parity successful Bollywood. I would get paid astir 10% of the wage of my antheral co-actor," Priyanka said. She went connected to say, "I thought it was perfectly OK to beryllium for hours and hours connected set, portion my antheral co-actor conscionable took his ain time, and decided whenever helium wanted to amusement up connected acceptable is erstwhile we would shoot."

10. In 2020, Riverdale's Vanessa Morgan tweeted, "I’m the lone Black bid regular but besides paid the least." In different post, she besides spoke retired astir being "tired of however Black radical are portrayed successful media...tired of america besides being utilized arsenic sidekick non-dimensional characters to our achromatic leads...Or lone utilized successful the ads for diverseness but not really successful the show. It starts with the media. I'm not being quiescent anymore."

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11. In a 2017 Hollywood Reporter Roundtable, Emmy Rossum discussed reports that she wasn't offered adjacent wage with her Shameless co-star William H. Macy until the show's eighth season. Emmy held retired until she was offered adjacent much than William to marque up for the years of wage disparity. Speaking astir the negotiation, Emmy said, "As it was happening, I'll archer you the idiosyncratic who supported maine the astir was William H. Macy. To person the antheral counterpart connected my amusement beryllium like, 'Yes, she does merit this and more' was truthful validating."

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12. Catt Sadler moved connected from her relation astatine E! News aft an enforcement informed her that her co-host, Jason Kennedy, was being paid astir treble her salary. On The View, Catt said, "We started astatine the aforesaid time, 12 years ago. We had the same, for each intents and purposes, experience, accomplishment sets, aforesaid nationalist illustration — for me, it was truly apples to apples. And that’s wherefore I conscionable consciousness truthful beardown successful my condemnation that what was happening was an injustice, and that’s wherefore I felt precise compelled to combat for what was close astatine the time."

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13. Kirsten Dunst has shared that she earned little than her antheral co-stars successful movies, including Jumanji and Bring It On. She told BBC, "I was precise young and it conscionable felt similar astatine the time, what bash you do? I was 17, I was inactive learning my sensation successful film. I didn't adjacent deliberation to ask." She has besides spoken retired astir a "very extreme" wage disparity betwixt herself and Tobey Maguire successful the Spider-Man movies.

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14. Charlize Theron made headlines successful 2015 for taking a basal to get adjacent wage with her The Huntsman co-star Chris Hemsworth. She told Elle, "This is simply a bully clip for america to bring this to a spot of fairness, and girls request to cognize that being a feminist is simply a bully thing. It doesn’t mean that you hatred men. It means adjacent rights. If you’re doing the aforesaid job, you should beryllium compensated and treated successful the aforesaid way."

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15. Shortly aft Chadwick Boseman's decease successful 2020, Sienna Miller revealed that helium had taken a wage chopped successful their movie 21 Bridges successful bid to summation her compensation arsenic his co-star. Sienna told Empire, "It's conscionable unfathomable to ideate different antheral successful that municipality behaving that graciously oregon respectfully. In the aftermath of this I've told different antheral histrion friends of excavation that communicative and they each spell precise very quiescent and spell location and astir apt person to beryllium and deliberation astir things for a while. But determination was nary showiness, it was, 'Of people I'll get you to that number, due to the fact that that's what you should beryllium paid.'"

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16. Ellen Pompeo has besides shared that successful aboriginal seasons of Grey's Anatomy, she was paid less than her McDreamy co-star Patrick Dempsey. In 2018, she told the Hollywood Reporter, "At 1 point, I asked for $5,000 much than him conscionable connected principle, due to the fact that the amusement is Grey’s Anatomy and I’m Meredith Grey. They wouldn’t springiness it to me. And I could person walked away, truthful wherefore didn’t I? It’s my show; I’m the fig one. I’m definite I felt what a batch of these different actresses feel: Why should I locomotion distant from a large portion due to the fact that of a guy?"

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17. And finally, Viola Davis has besides been outspoken astir being paid little arsenic a Black pistillate than achromatic actors of a akin illustration and experience. Speaking to InStyle, Viola said, "I privation and I expect to get the aforesaid filet mignon that achromatic actresses get. Cooked astatine the nonstop temperature. You cannot propulsion maine a bony with a truly bully small portion of nutrient inactive connected it and expect that’s bully capable for me."

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