Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman has spoken out about the gender pay disparity in the entertainment business. And she’s not mincing her words.
Talking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour while promoting her new movie Wicked Little Letters, Colman said, “Research suggests that they [women] have always been big box office draws. Don’t get me started on the pay disparity but male actors get paid more.”
She went on: “They [executives] used to say they draw in the audiences and actually, that hasn’t been true for decades. But they still like to use that as a reason to not pay women as much as their male counterparts, particularly in our industry.”
“I’m very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I’d be earning a f**k of a lot more than I am,” was her parting shot. “I know of one pay disparity which is a 12,000% difference. Do the maths.”
Double standards
Surprised to hear Colman say f**k? Don’t be—during the past couple of months she’s not only spoken out about the gender pay gap, she’s also gotten rightfully mad at the double standard which dissuades women from swearing. While talking about Wicked Little Letters, which involves a lot of swear words, she told the Radio Times, “If a woman swears people act shocked! F**k off! Women are human—funny, filthy, loving, caring—just like men.” And she applies that same attitude to pay disparity.
In that same February interview, she pointedly said, “Some of the biggest-grossing films, Barbie, Bridesmaids, Thelma & Louise, are led by women. People say men get paid more because they get more bums on seats. That’s a lie! It can be proved in the box office. I don’t know why we’re still having to discuss it!”
She’s absolutely right, of course. Actresses have been speaking out about the gender pay gap for a long time now, and for a great example, we need look no further than a show Colman herself starred in, The Crown. In the first two seasons, Queen Elizabeth II—who Colman would play the older version of—was portrayed by Claire Foy, while her husband Prince Philip was played by Matt Smith. Yet Smith received more pay than Foy, even though she was the face and the heart of the series.
There was a tremendous backlash that ended with co-producer Suzanne Mackie announcing, “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the queen.” It was as a result of this that Colman was paid what she was worth for her own seasons of The Crown. But that clearly didn’t extend to other productions she starred in.
Whenever an actress speaks out about the gender pay gap, she’s often greeted with a cry of, “Who cares if an already rich woman is slightly less rich?” But that’s not the point. Pay disparity affects all women from all lines of work. If an Oscar-nominated, hugely popular actress can’t achieve equal pay, then what hope do the rest of us have?
(featured image: Netflix)
