British A-list actor Olivia Colman has spoken out against the old Hollywood rationality for the gender pay gap among actors.
Speaking on the Radio Times podcast with fellow actor Jessie Buckley to promote their upcoming film, Wicked Little Letters, the Oscar-winning actor expressed her frustration over the belief that male actors get paid more because they attract more viewers.
“The narrative that [Hollywood] try and run…that men get paid more because they get more bums on seats — that’s bollocks. And it’s a lie,” she said.
“It’s proven in the box office to be not true. So pay your actresses please.”
The four-time BAFTA award winner admitted on the show she went ‘quite red’ while speaking about the gender pay gap, adding: “The board in any job…if you’re doing the same job as someone else, you get paid the same money and it’s a legal requirement for a very long time. I don’t know why we’re still having to discuss it.”
Colman mentioned some of the women-led films that have been popular with large audiences.
“There have been many fantastic, fantastic female centric films which have, have really moved me and then made me feel like – ‘This! This is why we’re doing it and this is great,” she said.
“Some of the big biggest grossing films have been…for example Barbie, but also Bridesmaids, Thelma and Louise. These are all films that have got bums on seats.”
During the podcast episode, where she was asked about her entry into acting as a young person, Colman admitted she didn’t know she could become an actor.
“I did not come from a creative family,” she said. “[As a teenager] I did a play. And then it was the first time I’d ever been really good at anything.”
“It took me a few years to work out how to just admit that I wanted to be an actor.”
She also revealed the challenges she faced in the beginning of her acting career in London.
“London is a lot easier once you’ve been paid. The first year is really hard, you know, and it is for everyone. We don’t know anyone, don’t have anything. It’s hard. We were going around the sofa cushions and sort of sleeping in people’s houses trying to find the money for the bus to go and get a job.”
“I fell in love with London over the years and I still love it. I don’t live there anymore. But I love that eventually you find your tribe and then it’s a magical place when you feel confident and happy.”
When she was asked about the setbacks she encountered early on, Colman replied, “Anything in your past where it hasn’t gone well — you’ve got to take it as it is. I don’t regret the sort of saddest parts of my life.”
“You come out of it bit stronger, and it’s the same with auditions. I remember the first year out of drama school I went for 100 auditions didn’t get one.”
The 50-year old actor, known for her work in Broadchurch, The Crown, The Favourite, Fleabag and Empire of Light, among others, is among a coterie of female actors who have spoken out against the gender pay gap in Hollywood. They include Sharon Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Jennifer Lawrence.