“Didn’t think to ask”
Kirsten Dunst on pay gap with male co-stars
Kirsten Dunst at the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
© carrie-nelson/ImageCollect
Hollywood star Kirsten Dunst looks back on the severe pay gap in the film industry in the past in a new interview.
Hollywood star Kirsten Dunst (41), who will soon be seen in Alex Garland’s (53) “Civil War” in cinemas, has spoke in an interview with the BBC about the large pay gap in the film industry in the past. Dunst was successful as an actress at a very young age, appearing in front of the camera at the age of eleven for the classic vampire film “Interview with a Vampire”. But her male co-stars reliably earned significantly more than her during this period. According to her own statement, she “didn’t even think about asking” film producers for a higher fee at the time.
“Nobody questioned it”
Dunst, who first appeared in front of the camera alongside Tobey Maguire (48) for the Marvel superhero film “Spider-Man” as an 18-year-old, remembers the time with the words: “I was very young and At the time there was just a feeling of: What can you do?” The pay gap between “Spider-Man” lead actor Maguire and herself was unclear already a few years ago described as “very extreme” – given the fact that the first “Spider-Man” film from 2002 grossed $825 million worldwide and the second part, released in 2004, grossed $789 million.
“Civil War” director Alex Garland also agrees with his leading actress in an interview with the British BBC. During the period in question, around 20 years ago, no one in Hollywood “questioned the large pay gap between actors and actresses, male executives didn’t question it, these were all inherited views. People didn’t think about it.”
During the conversation, “Civil War” lead actress Dunst was optimistic about the future of actresses in the film business. “Hopefully the way I go my way will help other actresses,” said the 41-year-old.