Jessica Chastain
Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain is one of the most vocal and outspoken critics of the gender pay gap. In response to Lawrence’s viral essay, Chastain told Variety: “There is no excuse. There is no reason why [eine Schauspielerin wie Lawrence] should act in a film with other actors and gets less money than their male colleagues. That’s totally unfair. It is not right. This has been happening for years and years and years. I think it’s brave to talk about it. I think everyone should talk about it.”
She also lobbied her longtime co-star Octavia Spencer to get the same pay. “We were brought up to believe that it was not proper to talk about money or salary, and there’s something shameful about that.”
Jessica Chastain also once turned down a “big” role because the pay wasn’t equal. “I remember afterwards thinking, ‘What did I do? Maybe it was a mistake.’ But it wasn’t because everyone in the studio system heard what I did,” she said in the 2017 interview. “So what you’re doing is building a reputation: don’t bring Jessica to something where she’s not being fairly compensated compared to a male actor.”