14 DAY TRIAL // One of the many things that last November’s Sony Hack exposed was the large pay gap in Hollywood between men and women. Even actresses with Oscar wins and a large fanbase, like Jennifer Lawrence, were paid considerably less than lesser known and lesser appreciated male co-stars.
Lawrence, for one, made a fraction of the money Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner got paid for “American Hustle,” even though they were all billed equally. Amy Adams was in the same position, but so far, she’s refused to say anything publicly on the topic.
Jennifer won’t keep quiet anymore, and in an op-ed posted on Lena Dunham’s newsletter, she vented about the anger and frustration she felt when she found out, as well as talked about the steps she’s taken to see this doesn’t happen to her again.
Jeremy Renner wants out of it
Her essay has reopened the discussion on the need for pay equality in Hollywood: equal work for equal pay between men and women, because that’s the right thing to do.
While Adams still hasn’t said a thing about this, Bradley Cooper told the press that he had no idea of the kind of disparity there was between their salaries. Obviously, like everyone else, salary is not something you discuss with your colleagues over coffee.
However, not that he knew, he vouched to lend his voice to the women’s cause and do whatever was in his power to achieve the goal of pay equality.
Not so Jeremy Renner. In an interview cited by Us Weekly, he makes it crystal clear: he is an actor, so he acts. Leave him out of politics.
“That’s not my job,” he says. “I don’t know contracts and money and all that sort of stuff. I’m a performer and I know human behavior. When it comes to that sort of stuff I let other people deal with that. I do what I’m good at, that’s what I focus on.”
He adds that he supports women’s fight for equal pay, but only inasmuch as he doesn’t have to talk about it.
Taking action
Jennifer Lawrence isn’t the first A-list actress to speak out on the issue of pay disparity, and neither is she the first to take concrete action after the Sony Hack.
Charlize Theron, for example, renegotiated her salary for the “Snow White and the Huntsman” sequel after she found out that she was paid half of what Chris Hemsworth made on the first film, even though she was the one to carry it.
Sienna Miller is also taking matters in her own hands, leaving a Broadway play after asking for a salary renegotiation upon finding out that she and her male co-star, the only two actors in the play, weren’t paid equally.