CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Olivia Colman Speaks Out About Hollywood's Gender Pay Gap

The Mary Sue: Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman has spoken out about the gender pay disparity in the entertainment business. And she’s not mincing her words.

4 comments:

Carly Tamborello said...

I love you Olivia Colman 💗 She has such a way with words. Seriously though, I think the article makes a good point that talking about the gender pay gap in these high profile, high income cases is still important because it’s about the principle. If we set a precedent of non-men getting paid less in certain areas, then that will trickle down into much more precarious situations where pay is already low to start with. Gender, like any other identity-based category, just obviously shouldn’t be a factor in how much people are paid. It’s as simple as that. I also like the point she made about swearing. There are so many things that it feels like we’re past as a society––like, are we really still having these conversations about what women can and can’t do and what is ladylike and what isn’t? Come on, let’s have some focus here.

Penny Preovolos said...

I love this woman. She is not only an amazing actress but I feel like she just gives herself and her opinions to the world in complete honesty. I have always loved watching her accept awards because you can see the brutal honesty and I just love it. I love it for the same reason that I love her honest response to the pay gap. While it's insane that such a talented and popular actress of our time can still experience a pay disparity is insane, it's still a reality. One of the things Colman hits on in the interview is saying that the excuse that men get more audience members into theaters, but she aptly points out that some of the highest-grossing films this year were led by women. I think she is right in pointing out that if an Oscar-winning actress cannot be expected to be paid as easily as her male counterpart, then what women in the industry can?

Luna said...

I am unfamiliar with Olivia Coleman but it seems that she’s a really well-known actress and probably has a decent plat. So I think it’s really important that she’s speaking out against the gender pay gap. I remember watching Titanic for the first time with my best friend afterwards we looked up how much Leonardo DiCaprio is paid for the film and we looked up how much his costar was paid for the film and we were astounded by the massive gap in their compensation. It does not even seem like this would be all that difficult for production companies to fix. I agree that this issue is bigger than Hollywood. It affects women all around the country. I think it’s also important to acknowledge the intersection between race and gender. African-American women and Latino women get paid even less white women and Asian women would because of the gender pick up which can have a real negative impact on their lives.

Julia Adilman said...

I’m a big fan of Olivia Colman as an actress, and I’m so glad she has used her position to speak out against the pay gap. I think that it is so frustrating that women are still not getting paid equally within the industry. At this point, that is just unacceptable. It’s unbelievable that executives are using the excuse that men make films more popular, even though that is just a blatant lie. I also completely agree with Colman that women get judged a lot more for swearing, compared to men. Women are just seen as always having to be polite, respectable, and quiet. When women swear, people get scared and immediately blow it out of proportion. The double-standard is crazy. I hope that women within the industry will continue to speak out and fight until this gets changed. I wish that they did not have to do this in the first place,, but it is definitely worth it to make sure that all women moving forward will get the respect that they deserve within the industry.