For the reshoot of Ridley Scott’s 2007 movie All the Money in the World, Michelle Williams received only 0.07% of her co-star Mark Wahlberg’s salary, while he was paid $1.5 Million after negotiation. USA TODAY broke the news of the gender pay gap stating that Williams was not aware of her co-star’s huge payday for the re-shoot.
Williams spoke on Capitol Hill while celebrating Equal Pay Day that following the information that came to light, Hollywood was yet so far away from fairly compensating her despite her working in the industry for nearly thirty years.
Michelle Williams Was ‘Paralyzed’ After Learning Mark Wahlberg’s $1.5 Million Deal
The four-time Oscar nominee said that she was “paralyzed in feelings of futility” learning about her co-star’s huge payday. For the reshoot, Williams received just $1,000 which is less than one-tenth of 1% of Mark Wahlberg‘s paycheck.
“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. Months passed and the actress Jessica Chastain, with whom I had in fact played sisters, offered to take my story to her Twitter,” Williams said.
“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.”
Wiliams’ coming out for equal pay for women has sparked the conversation which still pops up in debates.
How the Events Changed Her Time on Movie Sets?
Williams noticed a different workplace vibe in the movie sets following the event.
“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,” she said.
She also mentioned getting equal pay as her male co-star on a job completed two weeks ago from the time of the statement.
Appearing in an episode of The Graham Norton Show, the actor shared the experience saying that it is amazing to be in the middle of such conversation while everyone is looking.
The Reported Reason Behind the Pay Gap
While the pay gap was showing inherent sexism, an industry insider who spoke to The Wrap in 2018 revealed that Michelle Williams’s original contract included the necessary reshoots which was not the case with Wahlberg’s contract. The gap in the contract Wahlberg provided the opportunity to negotiate for 10 days of reshooting when Scott called upon the cast after replacing the original star, Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer.
Later, Wahlberg’s agent reportedly told the film financiers he “never” works for free and he set the price.
When the news broke, Williams said that she had to make personal sacrifices for the reshoots and missed Thanksgiving with her daughter in order to work.
All the Money in the World can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: Forbes.
