Long before MeToo and cultural appropriation, Hollywood was already arguing about the pay gap between female and male filmmakers. In a 1987 survey by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) found that women in the American film industry earned an average of 38 percent less than men. For actresses over the 40th birthday, the gender pay gap widened even further. Her salary was only about half that of her male colleagues. After a brief outcry, spurred on by industry papers like Variety, Hollywood went back to business.
Now Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence has re-fueled the debate - albeit differently than expected. The fact that she as the astronomer Kate Dibiasky, who promises the end of the world, is getting less pay than her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio in the announced black comedy "Don't Look Up" is no problem. “Leo is more valuable than me at the box office. I'm extremely happy with my contract, ”Lawrence told Vanity Fair. Variety had previously reported on the lavish fees for Adam McKay's film. DiCaprio reportedly earned $ 30 million for his role as astronomy professor, while Lawrence earned $ 25 million. The actress admitted that she was generally uncomfortable addressing the issue of equal pay. "If you do, you will be told that it has nothing to do with the gender gap",said the thirty-one year old. "But nobody can tell me why."
Lawrence used to sound more combative. Like her colleague Patricia Arquette, who called for equal pay for all American women at the 2015 Oscars, she has long been one of the loudest advocates of “equal pay”. Her rant after the "Sony leak", in which hackers published confidential data from the Sony Pictures film studio, including the fees paid by Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale for the crime comedy "American Hustle", went around the world. “Now I know how much less I make than the lucky people with penis. But I'm not mad at Sony, but at myself. I gave up on the negotiations too quickly, ”she complained in her friend Lena Dunham's newsletter at the time.
In Hollywood, of all places, where people keep celebrating as a champion of socio-political progress, things look grim when it comes to equal pay. While American women earn an average of 80 percent of the salary of their male colleagues, the gender gap in the film industry is even wider. For the agent comedy "Mr. & Mrs. Smith “Angelina Jolie got about ten million dollars in 2005, half the salary of her film partner and future husband Brad Pitt. Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams and Meryl Streep, one of the most successful stars ever with 21 Oscar nominations, often have to settle for lower salaries.
Lawrence is now consoling himself with the fact that her name will be shown a little more prominently than DiCaprios in the opening credits when “Don't Look Up” hits American cinemas in early December and can also be seen on Netflix from Christmas on.
She assured Vanity Fair that she insisted.
“I was number one on the callsheet.
It was clear to me that this should also be reflected in the opening credits. ”At least that was what Leo accepted very generously.