Emma Stone reveals that some male costars took pay cuts for her, so *everyone* could have equal pay
While we continue to live in a frustrating world where the gender pay gap still very much exists, every so often we hear stories that restore just a *little* bit of faith.
Over the last few years, many of our favorite actresses have spoken out about the significant pay gap between them and their male costars. Somehow, the problem of a pay gap is nowhere near fixed, but according to Emma Stone, there are actors who see gender pay disparity as the problem that it is — and have taken measures to ensure their female costars are making the same amount of money as they are.
While promoting her new film Battle of the Sexes with costar Andrea Riseborough, Stone sat down with Billie Jean King (the subject of the film, and the character she plays) to talk about sexism and how frustrating the gender pay gap continues to be.
In an interview with Out, the La La Land actress admitted that the instances where she had equal pay on a film were generally with actors willing to take pay cuts to ensure she was getting the same paycheck.
"In my career so far, I’ve needed my male costars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them," Stone told the outlet."And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair. 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 costar, 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.”
We totally commend the actors who’ve understood how ridiculous the gender pay gap is — and honestly, we’re happy that at least some of Hollywood’s leading men are paying attention. But, it’s still frustrating.
If the gender pay gap didn’t exist, Stone would automatically be making what she deserves — an amount equal to her male costars — and her male costars wouldn’t need to take pay cuts. But, as King pointed out in the interview, men tend to be in more powerful positions, so when they start to make a change, the real shift happens.
Stone admitted that she’s been really lucky when it comes to male costars willing to take the cut — as, frankly, many wouldn’t even notice the disparity for the problem that is.
She added, “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 costars — 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.’”
Bravo to Emma Stone for speaking out. And hopefully more actors begin to realize how ridiculous the pay gap is, so this will no longer be a frustrating, seemingly never-ending conversation.
