Actress Thandie Newton has revealed that she’ll be receiving equal pay to her male co-stars for the third season of Westworld.
Discussing the planned pay rise with Vanity Fair, the star described the move from Westworld network HBO as ‘unprecedented,’ explaining that the raises are ‘all happening right now and yeah, we’re all equal across the board. It’s really exciting.’
‘It shatters so much calcified pain, resentment, frustration. It just shatters it,’ she continued, before adding that in the future, she won’t be signing on for projects that pay men more than women for roles that are billed as the same. ‘I wouldn’t do anything if it didn’t [pay equally],’ she told Vanity Fair. ‘Definitely not. F—k that. It literally sets a precedent, and [HBO is] leading the way, which is amazing.’
Thandie’s Westworld co-star Evan Rachel Wood previously confirmed that she will be paid the same as her male co-stars Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris for the sci-fi drama’s next season. In an interview with The Wrap, the actress explained that the news had made her feel ‘emotional,’ having previously fought to be heard on the subject of equal pay throughout her career.
‘I was just told that, you know, “Hey, you’re getting equal pay.” And I almost got emotional,’ she said. ‘I was like, “I have never been paid the same as my male counterparts… never, never.” I’m always fighting for that.’
She also discussed the concerted effort at HBO to make sure that women are paid fairly and equally, stating: ‘There is a lot of trying to make things equal and trying to make things fair. This is the first time that somebody made of point of being like, “Hey you’re getting this. And you deserve it.” And that was nice.’
Previously, HBO executive Casey Bloys explained that the network had ‘proactively gone through all of our shows’ to correct disparities in pay, following conversations with Time’s Up advocate and Big Little Lies star Reese Witherspoon.