Natalie Portman opened up about the time Ashton Kutcher made THREE TIMES more than she did on a movie, and, ugh
If you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly aware of Natalie Portman. Actress, director, Oscar winner…she’s the whole shebang. So you can imagine our surprise when we found out that Ashton Kutcher made three times more than Natalie Portman for the film No Strings Attached.
Now don’t get us wrong — we love us some Ashton Kutcher. He’s a genuine feminist, humanitarian, and all-around hilarious dude. Plus, he’s married to Mila Kunis, who we also love. But these numbers are making us MAD. And they make Portman mad too.
“I knew and I went along with it because there’s this thing with ‘quotes’ in Hollywood,” she said in an interview with Marie Claire UK.
She went on to explain, “His [quote] was three times higher than mine, so they said he should get three times more. I wasn’t as pissed as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy.”
And let’s remember, Portman was already an Oscar-winning actress at this point. She went on to say, “Compared to men, in most professions, women make 80 cents to the dollar. In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar.”
Okay, this is all around pretty infuriating. In what world is it okay for one person to make three times as much as another person for doing the exact same job? And we understand that Hollywood is a business, and that some might argue that Ashton Kutcher could put “more people in seats,” thereby making him worth more.
But if recent years have taught us anything, it’s that women are just as much a draw as men when it comes to the box office.
Spy and Trainwreck were each one of the top grossing comedies of their year, The Hunger Games franchise has been epically successful, and Harley Quinn was such a smash success in 2016’s Suicide Squad that she’s the only character in talks to get a spin-off movie.
So, Hollywood, GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Times they are a-changing, and you’re clearly calibrating your numbers based on an outdated model. Oh, um, also, there’s this little thing called The Equal Pay Act — you know, that says everyone should get equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender. You may want to look into that.
Thanks, Natalie, for reminding us once again that we have a long way to go. But good news is, we’re up for the challenge!
