Hilary Swank Was Offered 5% Lesser Pay Than 'Hot' Male Co-Star Despite Having Two Oscars Over Him

In Hollywood, even two Academy Awards don’t guarantee equal pay. Hilary Swank, the two-time Oscar winner, once revealed the stark reality of the gender pay gap in Tinseltown. Despite her critical success, Swank was offered a humiliatingly low salary compared to her male co-star, simply because he was ‘hot.’ Yes, you heard that right! Swank’s accolades include an Oscar for her groundbreaking performance in Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and another for Million Dollar Baby (2004).

Yet, despite her accomplishments, Swank shared on Netflix’s Chelsea that she was offered a mere $500,000 for a role. She revealed, “Then I win my second Academy Award, and the next couple of movies later, I get offered a movie. But the male hadn’t had any kind of critical success but had been in a movie where he was hot. And he got offered $10 million, and I got offered $500,000. That’s the truth. The truth. So, I said, ‘No’ and then they went and found a newcomer who did it for $50,000. So they made a savings of ($450,000), probably to give the guy his bonuses,” as reported by USA Today. Swank’s revelation left the show’s host, Chelsea Handler, and other guests, including Ava DuVernay and Connie Britton, visibly shocked.

This wasn’t the first time Swank had pointed out the harsh realities of the Hollywood pay gap. On another occasion, she revealed, “When I did Boys Don’t Cry, I was 24 years old. I made $3,000. To have health insurance, you have to make $5,000. So I didn’t even know that I didn’t have health insurance until I went in and tried to get a prescription filled. They said, ‘That’s $160.’ I went, ‘Um, did you try my insurance?’ They said, ‘Mmm-hmm.’ I had an Academy Award, [but] no health insurance.”

As per People magazine, Jennifer Lawrence is another prominent figure who has echoed her concerns. Discussing getting underpaid, Lawrence shared, "I would be lying if I didn't say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled.' At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn't worry about being difficult or spoiled."

Additionally, Emma Stone has also been vocal about how important it is to have equal pay. She said, "In my career so far, I've needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that's something they do for me because they feel it's what's right and fair. If my male co-star, who has a higher quote than me but believes we are equal, takes a pay cut so that I can match him, that changes my quote in the future and changes my life."