Something for the weekend: Actress Robin Wright (pictured) has spoken out about her fight to be paid the same amount as male co-star Kevin Spacey for her work on the popular Netflix drama House of Cards.
Appearing in all 52 episodes of the series, as well as receiving a few directing credits for the show, it has been reported that Wright was earning $420,000 (approximately £287,133) an episode in 2015. Spacey was reportedly earning $500,000 (£341,877) in 2014.
In the show, Wright plays First Lady Claire Underwood opposite Spacey’s President Frank Underwood.
According to the Huffington Post, Wright discussed the pay issue at an event at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York.
Wright said: “I was like, ‘I want to be paid the same as Kevin'."
"It was a perfect paradigm. There are very few films or TV shows where the male, the patriarch, and the matriarch are equal. And they are in House of Cards.
"I was looking at statistics and Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time. So I capitalised on that moment. I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public'. And they did.”
The Employee Benefits team looks forward to pay for more female stars following suit...
