It appears Westworld’s leading ladies will receive the same pay as their male co-stars.
Earlier this week, Evan Rachel Wood revealed she was promised a wage increase for the third season of the hit HBO series—an increase that, according to the Wrap, was equal to those of Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris. Now, award-winning actress Thandie Newton has confirmed she, too, is expected to get a raise.
“They’re all happening right now, and yeah, we’re all equal across the board,” Newton told Vanity Fair about the negotiations. “It’s really exciting. It’s unprecedented. It’s—goodness; it shatters so much calcified pain, resentment, frustration. It just shatters it.”
Newton went on to praise HBO for taking steps to close the gender pay gap. The actress also said she intends to turn down any project offers for which she would be paid less than her male counterparts.
“I wouldn’t do anything if it didn’t. Definitely not,” she said. “Fuck that. It literally sets a precedent, and [HBO is] leading the way, which is amazing.”
Earlier this month, HBO executive Casey Bloys announced the network has taken a look at pay inequality amongst its talent, and has made adjustments where necessary.
“We’ve proactively gone through all of our shows—in fact, we just finished our process where we went through and made sure that there were no inappropriate disparities in pay; and where there were, if we found any, we corrected it going forward,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. “And that’s is a direct result of the Times Up movement.”
Let's hope other networks take note. Season two of Westworld premieres Sunday, April 22 on HBO.
