If you’ve had any glancing relationship with movie industry press over the past little bit, you already known that issues of income equality and career opportunities for women in film are big topics. And it’s only growing in importance the more big names continue to talk about it. Jennifer Lawrence kept the conversation going with her recent essay, and Jessica Chastain provided another example of how the scales can be widely unbalanced.
Chatting with Huffington Post, the actress revealed that on Ridley Scott‘s "The Martian," her payday was far less than what you might think. "I’ve actually never said this, I think, so here we go…." Chastain said. "….someone wrote an article once that said I made a certain amount of money for ‘The Martian.’ I made less than a quarter of that in reality. And so people are already saying, ‘Well, she’s making a lot less than her male co-stars because she’s making this.’ I made less than a quarter of that in reality, so there is a huge wage gap in the industry."
READ MORE: Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian’ Celebrates The Great, Nerdy Power Of Science
Chastain was likely referring to a tabloid report that she pocketed $7 million for the sci-fi hit versus $25 million that Matt Damon was paid (it should be said, both figures already seem wildly exaggerated). But even using those numbers as a ballpark, that means she earned less than $1.75 million on the movie, certainly much less than Damon, even if you use a conservative estimate for this salary (I’d probably guess it was closer to $15 million in reality).
Either way, Chastain illustrates what the wage gap would looks like, and even accounting that Damon is arguably a more marquee name, and obviously has a leading role in the sci-fi movie versus her supporting turn, the twice Oscar nominated actress is certainly being undervalued in this scenario.
Share your thoughts below and check out more of Chastain’s comments.
How do you say Screen Time? Jessica, you\’re a good actress but we see you briefly in the beginning of the movie then not again for nearly an hour and half, if not longer. You were paid fairly.
Kevin Jagernauth continues to a man hater. Just have the sex change already, moron.
I agree there exist unfairness in the disparity between wages for men and women and I\’m sure it\’s the same with ethnicity as well. Unfortunately its hard to feel sympathetic to an actress who is paid more for what amounts to several weeks or months of work than what most people make in their life times. The movie industry at times sucks , but the bitter truth is no one is forced into working in it. There are many actors out there who have great resumes as character actors that could have played that part well who will never see that type of payday.
I really like her. I feel she us trying to communicate that what they reported was wrong. I do think it\’s the high wages thought that make it an implausible argument when some cannot afford to eat. It\’s in am industry of wealthy I could live off if that for good and then some. But I think as a feminist argument it\’s bonfied, it\’s about the disparaging gaps we see in society and I love how men are putting there name to feminism
the French don\’t screw around when it comes to the sanctity of cinema.
Oh my comment was deleted? LOL
Jessica Chastain @jes_chastain Oct 17
@DavidPoland wasnt saying I shouldve recieved = w Damon. Media exagerated my salary. No good when fightn 4 actresses 2B fairly compensated.
Most of the comments seem either to purposely disregard reality or their just made by dumb people. Chastain wasn\’t complaining that Damon was paid so much more than her. She was pointing out that her salary was incorrectly reported to begin with, and that women are routinely paid less than men. The real question is, how much was Jeff Daniels or her other male supporting actors were paid? I would guess more than her. And for those of you who are so ignorant you don\’t understand that she is an A list actress, wake up and smell the coffee. She has been Oscar nominated twice, and has starred and co-starred in several films, she\’s not some minor supporting actress. That\’s why they got her for this role in The Martian, they wanted someone who could hold the screen with Damon. She\’s worth every penny and much more. And @Jason, she is grateful, but you seem to forget that The Martian was made by a corporation, it wasn\’t some little indie they all did for the love of the art — films like that are designed to make Billions, which is why they cast high-priced actors. That\’s the business part of show business.
Is not shocking that the tone of the commentaries are so violent, the commenters are all men. Same with the tone of the article, written by a man…
And of course my comment will be dismissed as dumb or silly, and I\’m not even agreeing that she has to be paid equal to Damon, only saying how weak masculinity is.
Beyond ridiculous – are you guys a serious reporting agency or what? Even the movie\’s title refers to Matt\’s character. He\’s the star. You people (and Chastain) need to get seriously slapped upside the head and wake up – you are doing a disservice to everyone on both sides of the equation. Equal pay, YES – but for equal work and B.O. impact.
PLUS – SHE DIDN\’T HAVE TO TAKE THE JOB. IF SHE THOUGHT A FEW MILLION WASN\’T WORTH IT, OR UNDERVALUED HER, SHE COULD HAVE SAID "NO."
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She only got paid 1.5 million! Poor baby! News flash: every big name actor should just be grateful seeing they get paid disgusting amounts of money to "play pretend". This tells you what\’s wrong with society. When people complain that a million dollars for one job is "unfair". I agree there is heavy chauvinism in Hollywood, but celebrities complaining that they don\’t get paid fairly is a joke in itself.
I agree with Robie that Chastain probably put in as much time publicizing the movie as Damon did. She may not be as big a movie star as Damon, but she\’s put in an awful lot of critically acclaimed work over the past 5 years than he has. No contest there. Damon\’s an OK actor but he\’s not someone I go to see for his performance like I would with Chastain or McConaughey, Phoenix or Bale. He just isn\’t (and never will be) in their acting category. And as a movie star? He\’s sort of a de facto movie star like his friend Ben Affleck is a "movie star". Like Ryan Reynolds is allegedly a movie star. They may be marquee names but they aren\’t guaranteed box office and all of them have a lot more flops on their resumes than hits. Chastain brings prestige which Damon just doesn\’t.
(Sorry for my terrible english, but I can\’t be quiet) Yes, she is a supporting role, but if she had received 7 million I would be quiet, because, Matt Damon is a bigger name than Jessica and she have a supporting role. But, 1,75 million? She and Matt Damon campaign together, to what I looked she went to many tv shows as him, they travel to another countries and Chiwetel Ejiofor or Jeff Daniels or Sean Bean didn\’t. But, people said she should be happy with 1,75. Ok. It\’s why studios can pay so less to female than male, and, if an actress talk about that when women finally speaking about the topic, people say she is wrong. Gosh, come on. Jessica have campaign as second biggest name of the movie. And this is a big budget film. So yes, 7 million I think was fair, but 1,75 million no.
Unforuntately, articles like this taint the issue. Yes, overall, females are paid less than males, and yes, it\’s a big issue that needs addressing. But this isn\’t the way to do it. Wether or not Chastain herself compared her wages to Damon, this article did, and that sets off the shit show. She\’s a supporting player, he\’s a major role. He\’s a bigger name, she is a smaller name. Either you compare her work to another male supporting character in this film, such as Jeff Daniels or something, or you compare her wages here for Matt Damon\’s in Interstellar. Again, he\’s a bigger name, but that was also a smaller role, probably akin to the screentime Chastain had here. Or compare Damon\’s wages to Anne Hathaway\’s for Interstellar, while you\’re at it. Compare the apples with the apples, and then let us comment and discuss the apples. Hucking in an orange simply complicates the matter.
Doubt if Damon\’s salary was that high. The Martian\’s the first critical/box office hit he has been in since True Grit and he was only supporting in that. Looking at his IMDb, his career over the past decade has been more than a little lackluster. Without the Bourne films, he wouldn\’t have justified an enormous salary on The Martian – reason for which he\’s doing another one I guess.
Jessica Chastain is a far superior actor and talent than Matt Damon, pay gap or no pay gap that\’s all I\’ve got to say.
I think that there is an issue with the above comments and a lack of understanding of the issue. She is not complaining about making less than Matt Damon, she is just emphasizing that there is a real issue in the industry. She compares that an article saying that she made a loss less than Matt Damon was inaccurate because made much less. She is not saying a supporting character should make the same amount of money as a lead actor.
Most importantly, I guess, is that what if instead of a woman was there a man in that role. I mean, wouldn\’t he probably get more?
She did not say she should be making the same amount of money as the lead of the film. She simply stated that the number ran by a certain tabloid, was way, way of. And that IS a big deal because a lot of people argue actresses shoudn\’t complain given the amount of money they are paid.
Question is why does Matt Damon make so much per movie and how is it he is still considered an A actor, well that\’s 2 questions, but honestly the guy sucks and his face and acting craft are overrated.
This is nonsense. TW hit the nail on the head. Acting is not a quantifiable skill in the traditional sense. Had the roles been reversed she would be making more than Damon.
Jessica Chastain is a B-list actress. She\’s not a leading actress like Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett or Julianne Moore. She\’s playing a supporting role in a movie. She should be happy she even got paid $2 million.
It\’s obviously ridiculous when actresses aren\’t paid the same amount as actors for doing the same thing. It\’s bullshit that you can have a woman carry a whole movie and still pay her less than a man carrying a movie. But this? There was a pay gap, sure, but an understandable pay gap. I like Chastain, she\’s smart, but to me it\’s not an outrage that she got paid less than Damon when she had a couple short scenes meanwhile he carried the whole movie.
She hasn\’t said that before? What? Does she has short term memory loss? That\’s all she\’s been complaining about for like an entire year every time she talks.
This is old recycled news, i take it there was nothing else to talk about today?
She was supporting that\’s why and Damon is a star. She isn\’t.
I\’m glad there\’s more discussion about all of this. But it is complicated in the sense of value — as an actor you\’re not doing the job of an accountant that any qualified accountant could do. This is the entertainment business. Therefore, you also factor in sell-ability to a world audience, past quotes, past box office, perceived value, sometimes how much work you do in the film (but this is not always the reason why you get more pay), popularity, demand/availability, a look you have, special skills and talent, connection with a particular audience, if you\’re hot right now with your publicity, etc. And, damn it, it still does matter (usually) if you\’re a woman or a man — and especially who is hiring and who you\’re represented by. There are SO MANY factors at play. This whole gender thing is just one factor — a big one, most of the time, but one of a bigger picture.
I\’m a huge Chasten fan, and I certainly think her talent is worth more than 1+ million on a 100+ budget film. That said, it\’s not exactly apples to apples to compare a supporting performance of a character, frankly, anyone could\’ve played, with a lead character that required a specific type. A better comparison would be if she was paid less than Ejiofar and Daniels. If yes, then, yeah, that\’s kinda b.s.
Arguably a more marquee name? Matt Damon is an international superstar. Jessica Chastain is not. Not yet at least. (She certainly has the talent to get there.) I haven\’t seen the movie, but I imagine Damon\’s screen time dwarfs hers. On top of that, once you\’ve got Matt Damon to carry that concept, you don\’t really need a name as big as Chastain\’s in the supporting cast. It helps, but it\’s not critical. If she says a quarter, she probably got paid close to $2 million. Plus a tiny bit of backend maybe that she\’ll likely never see because the movie isn\’t exploding at the box office. That amount is a paltry sum compared to what she probably would have gotten were it 1996, but times are changing. Some leads continue to make the same money (though they\’re certainly not making more unless they\’re Robert Downey Jr. on backend Marvel deals). I doubt the men around her were paid more. Chiwetel Ejiofor, for instance. I don\’t know. Her salary seems in line to me. Perhaps she could have negotiated higher. Perhaps they would have dumped her had she asked for more. Maybe they toss Olivia Wilde in there instead. She\’d probably be thrilled to make $2 million. Or Amy Adams or someone. I don\’t doubt there\’s a wage gap, but I\’m not sure this is a good example of it.
jessica Chastain is not a star. Matt Damon is. Besides she\’s in about 4 scenes in the whole damn thing. Get over yourself lady. You were paid fairly
leading man versus VERY supporting role. of course theres a gap but you can\’t see it here