The pay gap between actors and actresses in Hollywood is something that many outspoken entertainers have challenged. But when Vanity Fair asked Jennifer Lawrence about it in a recent interview, she had the best response. Earlier this year, reports from Variety surfaced that published Jennifer Lawrence’s $25 million payday for her role in upcoming film Don’t Look Up. Although it looks like a come up for Lawrence, it equaled $5 million dollars shy of what Leonardo DiCaprio received.
To the regular consumer, that might not seem like such a bad deal. But when you think about it, $5 million is a big difference. What did Lawrence say about it? She followed up with this,
Look, Leo brings in more box office than I do. I’m extremely fortunate and happy with my deal. But in other situations, what I have seen — and I’m sure other women in the workforce have seen as well — is that it’s extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay. And if you do question something that appears unequal, you’re told it’s not gender disparity but they can’t tell you what exactly it is.
She went on to say that even though she didn’t receive top salary, she did receive top bulling. That means that in the credits her name appears first, even before DiCaprio’s. And to make it even more pronounced, her name stays on the screen alone, lingering, before it is then joined by DiCaprio’s name. To that, she had this to say,
Leo was very gracious about it. I think we had something called a Laverne & Shirley, which is this billing they invented where it’s an equal billing. But I guess maybe somewhere down the line, I kicked the stone further, like, ‘What if it wasn’t equal?’
Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio star in Don’t Look Up, available on Netflix, December 24, 2021.
Featured Image via Vanity Fair.
