Felicity Jones is Rogue One‘s Highest Paid Actor
Say what you will about Rogue One, but everything about this movie–from its trailers to its brand-new poster featuring most of the cast–makes it plain that this is going to be Jyn Erso’s film, and it’s shouting it loud and clear.
Now, there still may be some out there who are mad about Rogue One‘s supposed “Mary Sue” (and we here at TMS have embraced that term proudly, albeit cheekily), but when it comes to the 32-year-old British actress playing her, apparently she’s also walking away with the biggest paycheck amongst the cast.
In a feature for The Hollywood Reporter, the piece notes that Jones is the highest-paid actor on Rogue One. That would logically include some of her co-stars who are perhaps bigger names and more recognizable–such as Mads Mikkelsen, Forrest Whitaker or even James Earl Jones, who will be returning to lend his voice as Darth Vader. Of course, the story goes on to add that (Felicity) Jones will also have the majority of the pressure riding on her shoulders if the film isn’t successful:
It’s her biggest payday to date (seven figures, while no other castmember received even mid-six figures, according to sources), but she takes the hardest PR hit if the film doesn’t match Force Awakens‘ numbers.
Rogue One might be Jyn Erso’s movie first and foremost, but judging by the trailers we’ve seen so far it could also reasonably fall under the category of an ensemble film–which is why it’s a pleasant surprise that Jones has emerged head-and-shoulders above her male co-stars when it comes to how much she’s earning. It should be a no-brainer given which character Rogue One‘s narrative seems to primarily centers around, but you’d be surprised.
Judging from past callouts of the industry from actresses like Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Patricia Arquette, often women suffer negatively when they try to speak up for themselves or demand pay on a level with that of their male co-stars. Gillian Anderson has famously talked about being paid less than co-star David Duchovny on The X-Files–and even having to renegotiate a fair wage when both of them returned for the series revival. Robin Wright once recounted a similar story regarding her role on the Netflix series House of Cards. On the other hand, we’ve seen examples of actresses earning a pretty steep salary–like Scarlett Johansson did for The Avengers, only coming in second to Robert Downey Jr–but she’s also the highest-grossing actress of all time, so it makes sense that her earnings would coincide with her success as a box-office draw.
Little victories aside, the wage gap issue continues to be a problem within Hollywood and without–and it not only affects women, but actors of color as well in comparison to their white colleagues. Taraji P. Henson recently revealed how little she was paid for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Stories like Jones’s are important, but they’re also evidence that this industry has a long way to go.
(via THR)
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