Jessica Chastain speaks out again on pay equality in Hollywood

The talk on pay equality in Hollywood has become louder and louder over the past few years with many of cinema’s top A-list actresses speaking out about how the gap has become bigger and bigger. Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, and Mila Kunis have all spoken out recently about both the differences in pay and how they want to push the studios to start paying equally.

Now Jessica Chastain, who has spoken out a few times before the debate, has said that she now at a point in her career where she not going to take any more jobs where she is getting paid a quarter of what they are earning, something she has faced before (In 2015, she told The Huffington Post that she earnt much less that the rumoured $7million she was reportedly paid for The Martian).

Speaking to Variety, the Miss Sloane star again gave her thoughts on the subject saying:

“I’m not taking jobs anymore where I’m getting paid a quarter of what the male co-star is being paid. I’m not allowing that in my life.

You have a scale to measure it by because the big agencies know what the male actors are getting paid. So when they’re negotiating, they should feel empowered. They can come forward and say, “This is 2017. We’re not doing this anymore.”

What I do now, when I’m taking on a film, I always ask about the fairness of the pay. I ask what they’re offering me in comparison to the guy. I don’t care about how much I get paid; I’m in an industry where we’re overcompensated for the work we do. But I don’t want to be on a set where I’m doing the same work as someone else and they’re getting five times what I’m getting.

In the past, what I used to do — this is terrible — a movie would come to me with an offer. They wouldn’t want me to do my deal until they cast the male actor. They would wait and see what they had left over, even if they’d come to me first. And so I stopped doing that. Now, if someone comes to me and has an offer but wants to wait, I’m like, “Goodbye.” If you want me in your film, do a favored-nation clause. Don’t determine my worth based on what’s left over.”

Chastain has two films out in UK cinemas in the next month. The Zookeeper’s Wife arrives this Friday, April 21st; while Miss Sloane opens on May 12th.