The world will celebrate Women's Equality Day 2015 on Wednesday, 26 August. But even in this age and time, the same kind of opportunities and remunerations for men and women still remain a distant dream. In fact, the wage gap between actors and actresses in Hollywood is still so alarmingly high that many leading women have expressed their outrage in the recent years.
Amanda Seyfred, the star of "Ted 2" revealed earlier this year that she has noticed a pattern of her getting paid considerably less than her male counterparts of the same stature. "A few years ago, on one of my big budget films, I found I was being paid 10 percent of what my male co-star was getting, and we were pretty even in status," she revealed to Sunday Times.
Patricia Arquette, decided to throw light on the issue at the Academy Award in 2015, when she won the Best Supporting Actress category. After thanking everyone, Arquette said, "It's out time to have wage equality for once and for all, and equal right for women in the United States of America," as her fellow-nominee Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez cheered her on enthusiastically.
To be fair, it was revealed recently that up-and-coming star Jennifer Lawrence was paid $8 million more than her "Passengers" co-star Chris Pratt. And according to Natalie Portman, young actresses like Lawrence and Kristen Stewart are lessening the outrageous pay gaps in Hollywood.
Portman had told Marie Claire, "Titanic is a huge hit and Leonardo DiCaprio immediately goes to $20m (£12.6m) per movie and Kate Winslet doesn't... But that feels totally like it's changing... Young women like Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart – they're the stars now. I don't even know who the guys are who are their age."
And although that trend can be seen a step towards positive change, the difference in salaries between the highest paid male and female Hollywood stars is still unsettling. According to Forbes, these are the salaries of top three highest-paid actors:
Robert Downey Jr: $80 million
Jackie Chan: $50 million
Vin Diesel: $47 million
Actresses:
Jennifer Lawrence: $52 million
Scarlett Johansson: $35.5 million
Melissa McCarthy: $23 million
