As awards season quickly approaches, Hollywood’s most buzz-worthy leading ladies are taking a seat at The Hollywood Reporter’s roundtable for a frank discussion about the gender wage gap.
Amy Adams was joined by Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Taraji P. Henson, Naomie Harris, Annette Bening and Isabelle Huppert for a candid conversation about acting that saw them pointing the finger at Hollywood’s producers. “Who you should be asking is the Producer Roundtable: ‘Do you think women are underpaid?’ Adams said when the heated topic of equal pay came to light. “We are always put on the chopping block to put our opinion out there, and that question is never asked. I’m like, ‘Why don’t you ask them and then have their statements be the headlines in the press?’”
“I don’t want to be a headline anymore about pay equality,” Adams added.
Henson echoed Adams’ sentiment when it came to opportunities for black actors, while admitting that she prefers to focus her efforts solely on the quality of her work. Though she point out that thriving in the industry “is always hard.”
“I have white friends, blond hair, blue eyes, who ain’t worked in five years. Have we seen enough representation of African-American stories? No. But has Hollywood been horrible to me? No, I’ve worked,” she told THR’s Stephen Galloway. “Did I get paid what I deserve? That is the question we should be talking about. But I can’t take that on because I have worked and I’ve seen my career do this. So I never wallow in the muck and say, ‘Oh, it’s hard.’ That’s a given.”
Henson continued, “I can’t take this skin off. We know what the deal is. You understand? So I’m not going to make it an issue. I’m going to work my a** off and hopefully, the work that I’m doing will change things, will make it better for the next one coming behind me.”
