Robin Wright recently engaged in a candid conversation about her struggle for equal pay during her tenure on House of Cards. This discussion took place during a moderated chat with director Leo Barraclough from Variety’s International.
In the conversation, Wright explained that a contributing factor to her need to “fight” was her lack of an Academy Award.
She began by recalling, “When David Fincher introduced House of Cards to me, he said: ‘This is going to be the future, it’s going to be revolutionary. And look where we are now.’”
However, she quickly found herself advocating for her rights, admitting, “Yes, it was difficult. I am going to be honest.”
“When I said, ‘I think it’s only fair because my character became as popular as [Spacey’s],’ they said: ‘We can’t pay you the same as an actor, so we will make you exec producer and you can direct. We will give you three different paychecks.’ I asked, ‘Why can’t you pay me as an actor?’ ‘Because you didn’t win an Academy Award.’”
Upon hearing this, she recalled thinking that anger “wasn’t going to change anything.”
The reason, she added towards the end, was that “that has been the protocol for years — it just is. If you say, ‘Why did so-and-so female not get the same amount as Will Smith?’ They say, ‘It will increase after you win.’ Nomination, not so much.”
