‘I was paid 10% of what male actors were getting’

Amanda Seyfried feels female actors should take up the matter of wage inequity

LOS ANGELES: Actor Amanda Seyfried says she experienced gender pay disparity in Hollywood when she was paid merely a fraction of what her co-star received for a big-budget film.

“A few years ago, on one of my big-budget films, I found I was being paid 10 percent of what my male co-star was getting. And we were pretty even in status,” Seyfried told Sunday Times, reports aceshowbiz.com.

“I think people think that just because I’m easy-going and game to do things I’ll just take as little as they offer...It’s not about how much you get, it’s about how fair it is,” she said, and added: “It’s up to the actresses to decide if they’re willing to walk away from something.”

Seyfried has starred in movies, such as Mamma Mia!, Dear John, In Time, Les Miserables, and Ted 2.

She is not the only female actor who has spoken out about wage inequality.

At the Oscars earlier this year, when accepting her best supporting actress trophy, Boyhood actress Patricia Arquette said, “It’s time to have wage equality once and for all.”

Meryl Streep had sent a letter urging members of congress to back “equal pay, equal protection from sexual assault, equal rights.”

In May, Charlize Theron revealed her negotiating a $10 million rise to put her at par with co-star Chris Hemsworth for Snow White and the Huntsman prequel.

“I thought about the temperature out there — with finding out what Jennifer (Lawrence) and Amy (Adams) were being paid on a set with guy actors who are their counterparts ... They’re just as good as any of the guys on there. Yeah, that pissed me off,” she said, referring to the leaked Sony email. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th,  2015.

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