One of the many gender-based discriminations that we see in society is the gender pay gap. The reality of women receiving less pay than their male counterparts for the same work is far more widespread than we think it is. Even the ‘progressive’ and ‘modern’ Hollywood industry, as it claims itself to be, is a space of these gender disparities. One of the biggest examples of this was when in 2017 when Michelle Williams earned only 1% of what her male counterpart, Mark Wahlberg, earned.
It was the reshoot of the movie, ‘All the Money in the World’, and the news broke of the pay differences between the two co-stars. It was even more surprising because Michelle Williams herself didn’t know that she had been so unfairly compensated.
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Why Did Ridley Scott Reshoot ‘All The Money In The World’?
The production of the movie faced a lot of problems as Kevin Spacey, who was playing the lead role of Getty, faced sexual misconduct allegations. He was suspended from many of his projects, of which one was ‘All The Money In The World’ as well. Ridley had no option but to restart the production, and he hired Christopher Plummer to play Getty. The entire cast and crew had to reshoot all of Spacey’s scenes. Out of all the cast and crew, only Mark Wahlberg received proper compensation.
Talking to USA Today, Ridley said that the cast and crew were onboard for the reshoot and they did it for free. However, he only told half the truth, as Wahlberg negotiated a $1.5 million deal with Ridley, and Williams was unaware of it.
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Why Did Mark Wahlberg Receive 1500 Times More Money Than Michelle Williams?
The Wrap reported that Michelle received only $1,500 while Wahlberg received $1.5 million, which was 1500 times more than Williams’ pay. There are two reasons behind how this worked in favor of Wahlberg. Even though both the actors had the same agents, Williams’ contract for the movie included the reshoots clause, and she was willing to come at any time to work. On the other hand, Mark’s contract didn’t include reshoots, therefore, his agents could negotiate pay with Ridley. Williams was simply paid extra out of courtesy. Many also point out the fact that Mark had more scenes with Plummer than any other cast actor.
Michelle has since then become a powerful advocate of equal gender pay. The 41-year-old actress shared how she felt when she came across the news. She said, “This came as no surprise to me, it simply reinforced my life-learned belief that equality was not an inalienable right, and that women would always be working just as hard for less money while shouldering more responsibility in their homes.” She continued, “I’ve been a working actress since the age of 12. I’ve been accredited by my industry at the highest levels and that still didn’t translate to equal compensation.”
The ‘Venom‘ actress also added how the public attention to this issue, which happened when Jessica Chastain tweeted about it, led to Mark Wahlberg donating his earnings from the movie to the Time’s Up Defence Fund. Even the Agency, William Morris Endeavours, which represents both Williams and Wahlberg, donated a further $500,000.
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