Olivia Colman says she would be paid ‘a lot more’ if she was a man in Hollywood

Olivia Colman has criticised the gender pay gap in Hollywood between male and female stars.

The actor, known for playing Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s royal drama The Crown, said she “would earn a f*** of a lot more’ as a male actor.

Colman, who won an Oscar for her lead role in The Favourite, opened up during an appearance on Sunday’s (24 March) episode of The Amanpour Hour on CNN while discussing her latest film Wicked Little Letters.

”Don’t get me started on the pay disparity but male actors get paid more because they used to say they draw in the audiences,” the star told host Christiane Amanpour.

“That hasn’t been true for decades but they still like to use that as a reason to not pay women as much as their male counterparts.”

Colman has starred in a range of successful productions across both film and TV, and was nominated for Academy Awards for her roles in The Lost Daughter and The Father.

Amanpour asked Colman if she had experienced pay disparity herself, with the actor responding: “I’m very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I’d be earning a f*** of a lot more than I am.”

She added: “I know of one pay disparity, which is a 12,000 per cent difference… do the maths”.

The actor has also recently talked about other personal topics, and recalled her experience getting “loads” of Botox done.

Other Hollywood stars who have voiced support of closing the gender pay gap include Emma Stone, Taraji P Henson and Jennifer Lawrence.

Lawrence was reportedly paid $25m for her lead role in Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up, compared to the $30m earned by co-star Leonaro DiCaprio.

Adam Sandler was named as the world’s highest paid actor in 2023 by Forbes.

Sandler made a huge $73m (£57.3m) thanks in part to the success of his Netflix film Murder Mystery 2 , plus a successful stand-up comedy tour, according to Forbes’ annual high-earner rankings.

Margot Robbie was the second on the list , earning $59m (£46.3m) last year in the wake of Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie.

The only other woman to place in the top 10 was Friends star Jennifer Aniston, who starred alongside Sandler in Murder Mystery 2. Aniston placed sixth by earning $42m (£32.9m).