Although we like to think a celebrity’s life is all glitz and glamour, the truth is that being an actor can have all the same hassles as any other job. Over the years, for example, many actresses have used their platform to speak out against the staggering gender pay gaps and sexism they’ve encountered in the industry.
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Back in 2015, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence became one of the faces of the movement when she bravely spoke out about the salary disparities in her movie American Hustle alongside Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper. “If I’m honest with myself, I would be lying if I didn’t say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled,’” Lawrence admitted, per Glamour. “At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled.’”
Lawrence’s words resonated with women all over the world. The truth is, women have been conditioned to be afraid to speak out, afraid to fight for their rights and needs, until, well, the cycle continues. But, if Hollywood is any example, actresses have been paving the way for a fairer, more equitable future.
Check out below what some other actresses have said about the gender pay gap.
This story was originally published in 2017.
Natalie Portman
Image Credit: Graphics by Candace Napier/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images In an interview with Marie Claire, Natalie Portman said Ashton Kutcher was paid three times as much as her.
Beyoncé
Image Credit: Graphics by Gabriela Arellano/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images In an interview with GQ, Beyoncé explains the impact of the lack of equal pay in the industry.
Jennifer Lawrence
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images In 2015, Lawrence wrote an essay about making less than her male co-stars in the Lenny newsletter.
Sandra Bullock
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Bullock opened up to Variety in 2015 about how Hollywood sexism is a “bigger issue than money.”
Jessica Chastain
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Chastain praised Lawrence in Variety in 2015 for taking on Hollywood’s pay gap.
Amanda Seyfried
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Seyfried also opened up to The Sunday Times about getting paid less than her male co-star.
Charlize Theron
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Theron negotiated equal pay for her role in the upcoming movie The Huntsman, as she told Elle UK.
Kerry Washington
Image Credit: Graphics by Gabriela Arellano/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Kerry Washington isn’t afraid to #Ask4More.
Carey Mulligan
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Mulligan showed support for Lawrence’s statements in an interview with Deadline.
Patricia Arquette
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Arquette famously lobbied for gender equality in her Oscar acceptance speech in 2015.
Judy Greer
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images “Why should a man make more than me?” Greer asked in an essay in Glamour.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Paltrow expressed strong feelings about the pay gap in Hollywood to Variety (via Page Six).
Sharon Stone
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Stone told People about her battles for equal pay after Basic Instinct. “I made $500,000; Michael made $14 million,” Stone revealed to InStyle years later.
Sienna Miller
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images As she told Vogue, Miller once had to leave a play after her male co-star was offered twice as much she was.
Reese Witherspoon
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Witherspoon slammed industry sexism while accepting an award at Glamour‘s Women of the Year event in 2015.
Alicia Vikander
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Vikander addressed the issue of equal pay in Hollywood at Elle‘s Women in Hollywood awards in 2015.
Amy Adams
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Adams discussed standing up for pay equality in an interview with British GQ.
Dakota Johnson
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Johnson also praised Lawrence’s spot-on wage gap essay to E! News.
Amy Schumer
Image Credit: Graphics by Karen Cox/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images Schumer backed up BFF Lawrence to E! News in October.
Viola Davis
Image Credit: Graphics by Gabriela Arellano/SheKnows; photo provided by Getty Images In an interview with Mashable, Viola Davis emphasizes the importance of equal pay for our daughters.
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