Octavia Spencer said she and Jessica Chastain negotiated together to get “five times what we asked for” on their upcoming holiday comedy.
At the Women Breaking Barriers panel at the Sundance Film Festival, Spencer told the crowd that Chastain approached her 15 months ago about doing a movie together. The conversation turned to the subject of pay equity between men and women.
“We were dropping F-bombs and getting it all out there. And then I said — ‘But here’s the thing, women of color on that spectrum, we make far less than white women,’” Spencer said, according to IndieWire. “So, if we’re gonna have that conversation about pay equity, we gotta bring the women of color to the table. And I told her my story, and we talked numbers, and she was quiet, and she said she had no idea that that’s what it was like for women of color.”
She continued: “I love that woman, because she’s walking the walk and she’s actually talking the talk. She said, ‘Octavia, we’re gonna get you paid on this film. You and I are gonna be tied together. We’re gonna be favored nations, and we’re gonna make the same thing.’ Fast forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for. Now, I wanna go to what the men are making!”
“The Help” stars are leading a holiday comedy for Universal, following a heated bidding war. The studio beat out Fox and Paramount for the still-untitled pitch.