Benedict Cumberbatch may play a valiant hero onscreen, but the British actor is just as gallant offscreen. The Marvel star supported feminism by vowing to turn down future roles if a female costar isn't offered an equal salary.
He told the Radio Times Magazine that other actors should follow suit in boycotting projects that offer women lesser salaries than that of their male costars.
It's about implementation. Equal pay and a place at the table are the central tenets of feminism.
Look at your quotas. Ask what women are being paid, and say: 'If she's not paid the same as the men, I'm not doing it.'
Hollywood's gender wage gap has been an ongoing controversy making headlines with projects like The Crown, Westworld, and All the Money In the World – in which leading actor Mark Wahlberg pocketed a $5 million paycheck, while in comparison, his costar Michelle Williams made $625,000.
The Avengers: Infinity War actor hopes to change the wage disparity with his own production company, SunnyMarch, which will focus on empowering women with female-focused stories.
I'm proud that [partner] Adam [Ackland] and I are the only men in our production company; our next project is a female story with a female lens about motherhood, in a time of environmental disaster. If it's centred around my name, to get investors, then we can use that attention for a raft of female projects. Half the audience is female!
People are praising the actor for his latest announcement.
Dr. Strange may have had a hand in determining the best outcome.
Others emphasized the dignity of fair wages based on one's performance regardless of gender, or who has the bigger box-office clout.
H/T - Twitter, Indiewire, RadioTimes, VanityFair
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