As immaculate a place as Hollywood is with its perfect actors and their spectacular acting, it is also a place full of many flaws: One of the biggest of which is gender inequality and the pay gap that follows, which is still currently raging as strong as ever. And Oscar-winner Emma Stone too, unfortunately, has fallen victim to this unfair practice.
It’s a well-known fact that actors’ and actresses’ salaries in Hollywood differ by a wide margin because men and women aren’t considered equal in the industry. However, not everyone follows this practice, and Stone’s life and career in the film industry have changed considerably because of this as some of her male Hollywood co-stars have stepped up and started taking pay cuts for her.
Emma Stone’s Life And Career In Hollywood Changed Thanks To Her Male Co-Stars
Appearing in an interview with Out Magazine following the release of her 2017 masterpiece Battle of the Sexes, Emma Stone shared her experience in the film industry regarding the pay inequality that she faced. She said:
“In my career so far, I’ve needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair.”
Continuing, Stone revealed how big of an impact it makes on her life and career when her male co-stars step up to get a pay cut just to have parity with her.
“That’s something that’s also not discussed, necessarily–that our getting equal pay is going to require people to selflessly say, ‘That’s what’s fair.’ If my male co-star, who has a higher quote than me but believes we are equal, takes a pay cut so that I can match him, that changes my quote in the future and changes my life.”
The Amazing Spider-Man actress then directly addressed Hollywood’s gender inequality issue and let out her perspective on the entire matter.
“It’s not about, ‘Women are this and men are that.’ It is, ‘We are all the same, we are all equal, we all deserve the same respect and the same rights.’ And that’s really what I’ve been so grateful for with male co-stars–when I’ve been in a similar-size role in films, and it’s been multiple people who have been really incredible and said, ‘That’s what I want to do. That’s what’s fair and what’s right.'”
While those of Emma Stone’s co-stars who have decided to take a stand for her are truly incredible and doing the absolute right thing, the issue of gender inequality and the pay gap that follows is still a raging problem in the industry.
Emma Stone’s Battle of the Sexes Talks A Lot About Gender Inequality
Emma Stone then went on to share how her film Battle of the Sexes further addressed this gender issue more profoundly.
“The parallels in this movie are pretty fascinating. We began shooting in the spring of 2016, when there was still a lot of hope in the air, and it was very interesting to see this guy–this narcissistic, self-focused, constantly-stirring-the-pot kind of guy–against this incredible, qualified woman, and at the same time be playing Billie Jean, with Steve [Carell] playing Bobby Riggs.”
Not only this, the film has a personal meaning to the Oscar-winning actress herself as well.
“Obviously the way this has all panned out has been fascinating and horrifying, and it still feels like we’re in a bad dream, but those parallels make sense to me–the equal-pay issue makes a lot of sense to me. At our best right now we’re making 80 cents to the dollar.”
All in all, Emma Stone’s Battle of the Sexes not only represents her own personal experience with gender inequality, but also represents the issues faced by the women from around the world: an issue that will take much more than just a few male stars taking pay cuts for their female co-stars to completely be ejected from the roots.
