Hollywood screen icon Paul Newman was as well known for his unforgettable movie roles as he was for his philanthropy, famously donating the proceeds of his Newman’s Own food brand to charity.
According to the late actor’s one-time co-star Susan Sarandon, Newman’s generosity also extended to fellow actors, revealing in an interview with BBC News that the star of such classics as “The Hustler” and “Cool Hand Luke” once gave her a chunk of his salary when he learned she was being paid less than he was.
“Emma Stone once came forward and said she got equal pay, because her male stars insisted upon it and gave up something of theirs. That happened to me with Paul Newman at one point, when I did a film with him ages ago,” she said (Sarandon co-starred with Newman and Gene Hackman in the 1998 thriller “Twilight”).
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She continued, “They said it was ‘favoured nations,’ but they only meant the two guys. He stepped forward and said, ‘Well I’ll give you part of mine,’ So, yeah, he was a gem.”
Sarandon, 71, also weighed in on the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, noting that while she thinks there will “always be a casting couch,” she hopes in the future these encounters will be consensual.
“I think what will go away is the unwanted exchange,” she said. “But I think that giving yourself sexually, or being drawn to power and wanting to have sex with someone that’s in power, is also a choice.”
Added Sarandon: “What we don’t want to have is being exploited and have the Harvey Weinsteins of the world holding it over your head and holding it over your project. That is the most despicable.”
