The pandemic caused many to reassess their work pay situation. And it’s no different for A-list actress Jennifer Lawrence. Well, it’s a bit different. Like five million dollars different.
Lawrence will soon be seen in the epic comedy, “Don’t Look Up,” playing lead in an all-star cast that features Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, and Ariana Grande. Reports surfaced earlier this year that Lawrence was getting $25 million for the role, though her co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio, was getting $5 million more than that.
In a December Vanity Fair cover story on the actress, Lawrence claims to harbor no ill will about the pay discrepancy.
"Look, Leo brings in more box office than I do,” she admitted. “I'm extremely fortunate and happy with my deal."
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That said, Lawrence is aware of Hollywood’s aggravating pay gap between the sexes.
“But in other situations,” she continued, “what I have seen -- and I'm sure other women in the workforce have seen as well -- is that it's extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay. And if you do question something that appears unequal, you're told it's not gender disparity, but they can't tell you what exactly it is."
Interesting that she mentions DiCaprio being a bigger box office draw, as Lawrence actually gets top billing in “Don’t Look Up,” her first film since 2019's “X-Men: Dark Phoenix.” According to Vanity Fair, Lawrence’s name appears first in the credits and lingers on the screen alone before being joined by DiCaprio's name.
Lawrence said the two are fine with the placement, and also clued us fans to a funny-named inside contractual detail.
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"Leo was very gracious about it," she said of the billing. "I think we had something called a Laverne & Shirley, which is this billing they invented where it's an equal billing."
“Don't Look Up,” directed by Adam McKay ("Anchorman," "The Big Short"), will be released on Netflix on December 24.
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