Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence wrote an essay this week titled “Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?” that appeared in the email newsletter Lenny that’s published by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner.
In her essay Lawrence talks about the movie she made titled “American Hustle.” She notes that Sony emails that were leaked to the press after Sony’s computer system was hacked showed that Lawrence was getting a smaller compensation package than her male co-stars. At the time “Hustle” was approved to be made, “The Hunger Games” had already been released and Lawrence’s box-office appeal was known.
Lawrence draws this conclusion in her short essay:
“Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves. If anything, I’m sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share. Again, this might have NOTHING to do with my vagina, but I wasn’t completely wrong when another leaked Sony email revealed a producer referring to a fellow lead actress in a negotiation as a ‘spoiled brat.’ For some reason, I just can’t picture someone saying that about a man.”
As for reaction to Lawrence’s essay, the folks at Philly.com note that Bradley Cooper, Jessica Chastain, Mark Ruffalo and Emma Watson are among the stars who have praised Lawrence for addressing the gender pay gap in Hollywood.
Watson tweeted: “O Jennifer Lawrence I love you so,” Philly.com noted, adding, “Mark Ruffalo shared a link to a story about Jennifer’s note on his Twitter.com page, as did Jessica Chastain, who added, ‘Yessssssss! Get it girl xx.'”
Philly.com also says that “Jennifer’s ‘American Hustle’ co-star Bradley Cooper was asked about the letter following its publication, and he told E! News that he had yet to read the piece, but supported the sentiment. Bradley also praised his ‘Burnt’ co-star Sienna Miller for pulling out of a part in a play amid a dispute over her pay. ‘One thing I could say is that’s interesting because if you think that you only deserve a certain amount and that’s not correct, it’s about changing that mindset and sticking up for yourself the way that Sienna did. So that’s a great thing.’”
To read Lawrence’s complete essay, please click here, which will take you to it in the Lenny newsletter. To read reaction to the essay, please click here, which will take you to the article at Philly.com.
Jennifer Lawrence in the movie “American Hustle”
Jennifer should be the highest paid actor/actress in the Hunger Games series. No question. She is the lead and the star. Her role in American Hustle, would not likely be considered the lead and would be paid differently. Pushing hard can also result in a Producer or studio determining that a different actor/actress can play the part. Part of major picture development is research on the drawing power and value of each major part and costs associated with bringing in the right person. Pushing hard works both ways. If the person pushes too hard when they are not critical to the Producer and Studio, it may be easier to get a different person to play the part. Also, many male actors have been called spoiled brats. That is not a club exclusive to women.