By — Nana Adwoa Antwi-Boasiako Nana Adwoa Antwi-Boasiako Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/male-actors-make-twice-female Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Top male actors make twice as much as female colleagues Nation Aug 26, 2016 11:28 AM EDT A pay gap persists between top-earning male and female actors, according to a new measurement by Forbes. Forbes published a list this week showing that the world’s 10 highest-paid male actors earned a total of $457 million from June 1, 2015, to June 1, 2016 — more than twice as much as the 10 highest-paid female actors, who made a combined $205 million. The highest-paid female actor, Jennifer Lawrence, made $46 million last year, including from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” and the upcoming film “Passengers.” But Lawrence’s earnings were $19 million lower than the highest-paid male actor, Dwayne Johnson. He brought in $64.5 million with movies like “San Andreas” and “Central Intelligence.” Lawrence is one of many women who have spoken out against the gender pay gap in the film industry, especially after leaked Sony emails last year revealed she was paid less than her male co-actors in “American Hustle.” Following the leak, Lawrence said she “failed as a negotiator,” in part because she was worried about how coming across as “difficult” — a concern, she said, that did not seem to affect her male colleagues. Maya Raghu, Director of Workplace Equality at the National Women’s Law Center, said that in order for help women negotiating their pay, workplaces need to provide a greater amount of transparency about how much their employees make. Raghu said employees should not feel like they might be punished if they talk about salaries in the workplace. https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/768809403663482880 In addition, companies should look at disparities in pay between employees of different races, Raghu said. “Companies can also do a pay audit, and compare between men and women and across races,” she said. In general, men receive more speaking parts than women in films, according to Polygraph, a website that compared the screenplays of more than 2,000 films. Earlier this year, the Center of the Study of Women in Television and Film looked at gender representation among the “top critics” on popular review website Rotten Tomatoes over a three-month period, finding that men held more positions than women as film reviewers, regardless of job title. By — Nana Adwoa Antwi-Boasiako Nana Adwoa Antwi-Boasiako
A pay gap persists between top-earning male and female actors, according to a new measurement by Forbes. Forbes published a list this week showing that the world’s 10 highest-paid male actors earned a total of $457 million from June 1, 2015, to June 1, 2016 — more than twice as much as the 10 highest-paid female actors, who made a combined $205 million. The highest-paid female actor, Jennifer Lawrence, made $46 million last year, including from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” and the upcoming film “Passengers.” But Lawrence’s earnings were $19 million lower than the highest-paid male actor, Dwayne Johnson. He brought in $64.5 million with movies like “San Andreas” and “Central Intelligence.” Lawrence is one of many women who have spoken out against the gender pay gap in the film industry, especially after leaked Sony emails last year revealed she was paid less than her male co-actors in “American Hustle.” Following the leak, Lawrence said she “failed as a negotiator,” in part because she was worried about how coming across as “difficult” — a concern, she said, that did not seem to affect her male colleagues. Maya Raghu, Director of Workplace Equality at the National Women’s Law Center, said that in order for help women negotiating their pay, workplaces need to provide a greater amount of transparency about how much their employees make. Raghu said employees should not feel like they might be punished if they talk about salaries in the workplace. https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/768809403663482880 In addition, companies should look at disparities in pay between employees of different races, Raghu said. “Companies can also do a pay audit, and compare between men and women and across races,” she said. In general, men receive more speaking parts than women in films, according to Polygraph, a website that compared the screenplays of more than 2,000 films. Earlier this year, the Center of the Study of Women in Television and Film looked at gender representation among the “top critics” on popular review website Rotten Tomatoes over a three-month period, finding that men held more positions than women as film reviewers, regardless of job title.