Jennifer Lawrence Reacts To Being Paid Less Than Leonardo DiCaprio In ‘Don’t Look Up’
By Rachel West
Jennifer Lawrence may have top billing among her high-profile co-stars in “Don’t Look Up”, but she certainly doesn’t have the top salary.
Lawrence toplines a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande and Mark Rylance in director Adam McKay’s movie about two low-level astronomers who go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy Earth.
“I was number one on the call sheet, so….” Lawrence says with a laugh during a sit-down with Vanity Fair, on newsstands Nov. 30. “And I thought [the credits] should reflect that. Leo was very gracious about it. I think we had something called a ‘Laverne & Shirley’, which is this billing they invented where it’s an equal billing. But I guess maybe somewhere down the line, I kicked the stone further, like, ‘What if it wasn’t equal?’”
Though her name appears first in the film’s opening credits, the 31-year-old Oscar winner insists she’s fine with earning less than her co-star in this instance.
“Look, Leo brings in more box office than I do. I’m extremely fortunate and happy with my deal,” she says. Lawrence reportedly earned $25 million to DiCaprio’s $30 million payouts.
While she says she is happy with her deal for “Don’t Look Up”, Lawrence knows that’s not always the case for women when dealing with gender pay inequality.
“But in other situations, what I have seen — and I’m sure other women in the workforce have seen as well — is that it’s extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay,” she says. “And if you do question something that appears unequal, you’re told it’s not gender disparity but they can’t tell you what exactly it is.”
Using Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit with Disney over “Black Widow” profits, Lawrence says she’s in support of women owning their worth.
“I thought that was extremely brave,” she says of Johansson, who filed suit claiming the studio breached its contract with her by releasing “Black Widow” on its Disney+ streaming service instead of theatrically. The lawsuit was settled in September with terms of the deal not disclosed.
Adds Lawrence, “If two parties understand how a movie is going to be released, and then it turns out that one of the parties did not agree to that, that’s unfair. She was also crowning! She was giving birth.”
“Don’t Look Up” arrives on Netflix on Dec. 24.
