Olivia Colman has enjoyed one of the most acclaimed acting runs of the past decade, winning an Oscar for “The Favorite” in 2019 and receiving nominations for “The Father” and “The Lost Daughter” in addition to playing Queen Elizabeth II on “The Crown.” But the English actress doesn’t feel like her compensation has caught up to her success.
In a new appearance on CNN’s “The Amanpour Hour,” Colman shared her thoughts about gender equality in Hollywood, explaining that she feels many actresses are still underpaid despite being larger box office draws than their male colleagues.
“Don’t get me started on the pay disparity, but male actors get paid more because they used to say they drew in the audiences,” Colman said. “And actually, 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 went on to say that she believes she could make significantly more money while doing the exact same work if she were a man.
“I’m very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I’d be earning a fuck of a lot more than I am,” she said. “I know of one pay disparity, which is a 12,000 percent difference.”
Colman has been busy promoting her new film “Wicked Little Letters,” and recently spoke to IndieWire at the film’s New York premiere about her scene in “Barbie” that was ultimately cut from the film.
“They had arranged a call between me, David Heyman, the producer, and Greta Gerwig. I thought, ‘Oh, I know what this must be [for],’” Colman continued. “It made perfect sense, because it didn’t add to the story, it was just fun. Maybe they were running over, I don’t know. But it was kind of perfect for me, because I got paid for the job, and then no one could say I was shit in it.”
