Close Ad

How Jessica Chastain Helped Fellow Actress Octavia Spencer Earn 5 Times Her Salary
Jessica Chastain & Octavia Spencer
(Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
Motivation

How Jessica Chastain Helped Fellow Actress Octavia Spencer Earn 5 Times Her Salary

Before winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for 2011's "The Help," actress Octavia Spencer was offered five times less money than costar Jessica Chastain for the role. Then, Chastain stepped in.


She's walking the walk

Jessica Chastain is a staunch advocate for pay equity between men and women, and she happened to be chatting about it with fellow actress Octavia Spencer before they agreed to work on the movie together.

"Here's the thing," Spencer told Chastain, according to BBC News.

"Women of color on that spectrum, we make far less than white women. So if we're going to have that conversation, we've got to bring the women of color to the table."

Octavia Spencer.

Chastain was unaware that Spencer, who went on to win an Oscar for her role, was offered five times less money than she was. So she said: "Octavia -- we're going to get you paid on this film."

With tears in her eyes, Spencer said she was extremely appreciative of Chastain's support.

"I love that woman, because she's walking the walk and she's actually talking the talk."

Octavia Spencer

"[Chastain] said: 'You and I are going to be tied together. We're going to be favored nations and we're going to make the same thing, you are going to make that amount," Spencer said.

"Fast forward to last week, we're making five times what we asked for."

After making what her white costars made, Spencer said she wants actresses to earn as much as actors do.

"Now I want to go to what the men are making," she said. "I want to get there."

Continuing the fight

Recently, Chastain has continued her work advocating for pay equity. She founded her own production company, Freckle Films, which helps actresses earn a portion of the box office revenue.

"A lot of times, our names are used to sell movies, and that's how the money is raised for them," Jessica told Shape. "So I thought, If our names are being sold, then we need to be the owners of the film."

For upcoming film The 355, Chastain approached costars Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz, and Fan Bingbing, "If you do this movie, you're going to have to agree to sell it, because you will be an owner. We're going to sell the distribution rights to raise the budget for the film, and then everyone owns a portion of the box office," she recalled.

The actresses all agreed, and the film rights sold. "I don't know if anything like this has been done before, and honestly, I'm a bit shocked I got away with it," Jessica said. "But hopefully it creates a new model in which artists can own their work."

Chastain added that she doesn't love to talk about her advocacy because equality should already be a thing in 2021.

"When it comes to fighting for pay equality, I would rather just do it and not talk about it," she told Shape. "I think it's actually more powerful if I don't have to explain it."

How to be an ally

While Chastain shouldn't have to speak out, it's certainly helpful if she does. Many people don't know how they can be an ally (hint: it's more than posting black squares).

Chastain proves that being an ally involves speaking out and sometimes putting your own career at risk to help others. Hopefully, others in power will follow her lead.

More celebrity stories:

Hot Stories

Why Paul Walker Left His Only Daughter With Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel & Paul Walker were more than just friends, they were …

content.jwplatform.com

When the tragic news of Paul Walker's death surfaced, the world was left in shock. As one of the most beloved stars of the Fast and Furious franchise, his passing was felt deeply by fans around the globe. But perhaps the most devastating impact was felt by his daughter, Meadow Walker, who was left without a father.

Keep ReadingShow less
Life Stories
4 Signs You've Found a Kindred Spirit, Not a Soulmate
friends wearing same outfit

Spirituality exists beyond words — to a dimension where language can only hint at deeper truths. Any words used to attempt to describe or explain it will always be poor translations because words often fall short when describing spiritual experiences. It's like trying to capture the ocean's vastness in a photograph. It might show its surface but there's no replacement for the direct experience of reality.

RELATED: The Psychology and Spirituality Causes Of An Identity Crisis

On Defining Spiritual Connections

Throughout history, people have tried to capture extraordinary experiences and spiritual connections through language. Terms like soulmates, twin flames, and kindred spirits attempt to describe these non-ordinary bonds. Yet these labels are merely signposts that point to something mysterious and won't fully capture it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Relationships
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his parents Randi and Pat
Archive

Make no mistake about it: Patrick Mahomes is the face of the NFL. The Tyler, Texas native is the son of Pat Mahomes, a former Major League Baseball player, and Randi Martin.

He burst onto the scene in 2018 when he made history by throwing 50 touchdown passes and 5,000 yards in a single season — a record he shares with Peyton Manning. He followed up his initial success by leading the Kansas City Chiefs to an incredible victory at Super Bowl LIV. If that wasn’t enough, he carried the team through to yet another Super Bowl the very next year, though they ended up losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mahomes has gone to two more Super Bowls since and he's won back-to-back titles (2023 and 2024).

Keep ReadingShow less
Family