Octavia Spencer has revealed that Jessica Chastain helped her earn five times her asking salary.
The actresses have been close friends since they starred in The Help back in 2011, and now the pair are set to star in a new comedy together, which will be produced by Jessica.
However, while they were discussing the film, Octavia brought up the fact that she’s paid less as a woman of colour.
Speaking at the Women Breaking Barriers panel at the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday, Octavia said, “We’re really good friends and we had a great time working on The Help.”
“She wants to do comedies, and I want to break out of period pieces. I love them, they’ve been good to me, but I want to play someone who resembles me in some fashion.”
Octavia and Jessica were talking about the importance of pay equity between men and women when she said, “Here’s the thing. Women of colour on that spectrum, we make far less than white women. So if we’re going to have that conversation, we’ve got to bring the women of colour to the table.”
Jessica said she “had no idea” of the situation, and promised Octavia that they would 100% earn the same.
Through tears, Octavia said, “I love that woman, because she’s walking the walk and she’s actually talking the talk…
“She said: ‘You and I are going to be tied together. We’re going to be favoured nations and we’re going to make the same thing, you are going to make that amount. Fast forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for.”
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