Jennifer Lawrence’s Next Paycheck is a Step Up for Women in Hollywood

For every dollar a man is paid for his work, a woman is making 22 cents less in the same position. The pay inequality persists across the board for all industries, including Hollywood.

Back in 2013, Forbes released its annual list of highest paid actors and actresses. Though it was to no one’s surprise that men generally earned more than their female counterparts, it was startling to find that they made 2.5 times more than their female co-stars. (Think about how much a moviestar earns and multiply it by 2.5 — that’s a lot of money.)

Jennifer Lawrence knows this injustice all too well as the public discovered when hacked Sony emails regarding her pay for “American Hustle” were made a matter of public record in 2014. Lawrence and her female co-star Amy Adams were paid a whopping 23% less than the leading men in the David O. Russel-directed movie. These revelations surfaced as Lawrence was being honored with an Oscar win for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook” and setting blockbuster records as Katniss in the “Hunger Games” movie series.

However, things have taken a turn for the better. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony is casting Lawrence and Chris Pratt to star in the new sci-fi romantic drama “Passengers.” The film’s massive budget is allocating $20 million for Lawrence and $12 million for her male co-star Pratt.

No hard feelings toward Pratt, but Hollywood is making a worthwhile use of $20 million towards not only the movie’s success, but progress for gender pay fairness.

Source: Upworthy