How did Michelle Williams really feel about finding out she’d been paid less than a tenth of a percent of her male costar’s salary?!
In a new speech, the Dawson’s Creek alum revealed just how hard the news had hit her, saying she’d been “paralyzed in feelings of futility.”
Related: Michelle Secretly Got Married To A Man With Whom She Shares A Sad History
For those who hadn’t heard, Michelle and Mark Wahlberg were asked to return to the set of the historical drama All The Money In The World when director Ridley Scott decided to completely erase scandal-ridden Kevin Spacey‘s performance.
While some of the time that meant digitally replacing Spacey with actor Christopher Plummer, some scenes required the other actors to be present.
Everyone agreed, and it all seemed fine — until a few months later when something shocking was revealed. Michelle recalled:
“In late 2017, the news broke that I’d been paid less than $1,000 compared to the $1.5 million that my male counterpart had received for the exact same amount of work.”
Apparently Michelle had agreed essentially as a favor and had received no additional salary — just a per diem (a small stipend to cover daily expenses).
Mark, on the other hand, had gotten his agent, Ari Emanuel, to negotiate a hefty sum for the extra ten days.
Michelle continued:
“And guess what, no one cared. This came as no surprise to me, it simply reinforced my life-learned belief that equality is not an inalienable right and that women would always be working just as hard for less money while shouldering more responsibility at home. 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.”
Michelle may have been paralyzed, but thankfully she knew someone who could fight for her.
She continued:
“Months passed and the actress Jessica Chastain, with whom I had in fact played sisters, offered to take my story to her Twitter. Jessica’s audience was much wider than mine and she wasn’t afraid to pick up a megaphone and be heard. Heard she was, there was an uproar and a public shaming within my industry that resulted in a $2 million donation to the Time’s Up Defense Fund.”
Yep, Mark was shamed into giving up his bonus bucks to a good cause.
But that wasn’t the only change. The entire movement was really making a difference:
“I could tell my workplace was shifting. Rather than being grasped too tightly or hugged for too long as a morning greeting, my hand was shaken and I was looked squarely in the eye and I was welcomed to my Monday morning.”
AND, Michelle notes:
“On the job I just completed two weeks ago, I have to tell you, I was paid equally with my male costar.”
Nice!
The four-time Oscar nominee, who has become so well known for starring in depressing indie films she surprised people by taking a role in last year’s comic book movie Venom, summed up how off-brand this “happy ending” was:
“It’s the kind of story I would normally resist: the morality tale with a happy ending, or rather a happy beginning because that’s really why I’m here. There won’t be satisfaction for me until I can exhaust my efforts ensuring that all women experience the elevation of their self-worth and its connection to the elevation of their market worth.”
But it’s an ending she deserves.
Oh, and someone get her that damn Oscar already!
[Image via Brian To/WENN.]
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