Emma Stone has revealed that some of her male co-stars actually took pay cuts in support of gender wage equality in Hollywood!
Speaking to Tennis icon Billie Jean King for Out Magazine, the Academy award winning actress addressed the issue of pay inequality in the film industry, and how some of her male co-stars have done their part to tackle this issue.
“In my career so far, I’ve needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair.” she said.”It’s not about, ‘Women are this and men are that.’ It is, ‘We are all the same, we are all equal, we all deserve the same respect and the same rights.’ And that’s really what I’ve been so grateful for with male co-stars”.
Though Stone did not outright name which co-stars were willing to take pay cuts in the past, we assume it could either be her three time co-star and BFF Ryan Gosling or possibly Andrew Garfield.
Billie Jean, who is a well known advocate for gender payment parity in sports, agreed with Stone, stating “You just gave an example of why men are so vital to these changes—because they’re usually in the power position, and if they start to change the paradigms, things start to shift.”
King also pointed out some grimmer realities and stated the importance of intersectionality. “If you’re African American or Hispanic it goes down, and then Asian Americans make 90 cents to the dollar.” she said.
She also talked about the importance for women to take the first step and move forward. “Girls tend to do not-for-profit work. We’re used to being very supportive. That’s what we’re taught, but women have to start stepping up. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. As long as you’re a good person and you don’t hurt others, ambition is really important.” she explained.
Emma Stone will be playing King in the upcoming film Battle of the Sexes , which tells the story of the nationally televised 1973 Battle of the Sexes II. Where the then 29-year-old King took on 55-year-old tennis veteran, Bobby Riggs, who called her out after his victory against Margaret Court in the first Battle of the Sexes match. King went on to win three straight sets in front of a worldwide television audience of 90 million people.
Battle of the Sexes is set for release on September 22, and will co-star Steve Carrel as Bobby Riggs.
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