While many actors lead a glamorous life, it doesn’t mean they have it all perfect. They, too, face challenges like inequality and bias.
Hollywood’s salary is decided in backroom deals and is based on many factors. It’s common for some actors we see playing our favorite characters to get paid surprisingly little because of that.
Some leading actors and actresses who have starred in major roles in high-grossing blockbusters were shockingly underpaid for the parts they’ve played. Here is the list of some of those five actors who were underpaid for their iconic roles.
Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams got many awards, like two Golden Globes and one Primetime Emmy. She was also nominated for five Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
Even though she’s a leading star, she was paid less. For her role in All the Money in the World, she earned $625,000. This was much less than her co-star Mark Wahlberg, who made $5 million — nearly ten times more than her pay.
Barkhad Abdi
A general acceptance in Hollywood is that when you receive an Oscar nomination, you have made it. But in the case of Captain Phillips star Barkhad Abdi, his thought wasn’t the same.
It’s because the Somalia native was only paid $65,000 for his Oscar-nominated role in which he played the pirate leader opposite Tom Hanks.
Surprisingly, the one who produced one of the most iconic lines, ‘I’m the captain now,’ in Captain Phillips, was left underpaid for his role in the film.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey transformed her successful talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show (which ran for 25 years), into a vast media and business empire.
But at a certain time, she used to get paid less. At the start of her career, she received only $35,000 for her role as Sofia in The Color Purple. The surprising fact is that she received an Oscar-nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal in the film.
Jonah Hill
The movie Wolf of Wall Street was a huge hit, and many praised Jonah Hill‘s acting in the movie. But, the actor got only $60,000 for seven months of work while Leonardo DiCaprio earned $10 million.
Hill said on The Howard Stern Show that he was offered the lowest possible amount. Despite the low pay, his performance got him an Oscar nomination.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman was paid less for a film role than her male co-star Ashton Kutcher. In the 2011 romcom No Strings Attached, Portman has revealed that her co-star was paid more than her.
“Compared to men, in most professions, women make 80 cents to the dollar. In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar,” she told ABC News.
