*“Pay me in equity!”
She’s an actress, moviemaker and Academy Award nominee!
And on December 25 her newest film “Little Women” rolls into theaters.
Greta Gerwig sat down with EUR correspondent Fahnia Thomas to share her thoughts on pay gaps and equity education, along with cast members Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, Florence Pugh and Laura Dern.
Q: There are two different scenes with Jo March talking to her publisher about wages…Are you comfortable with negotiating your salary?
Greta Gerwig: I did feel more confident in going into Sony and saying, ‘let’s do this epic “Little Women!” I want to shoot on film, on location and I want to do it with this cast.’ I felt inspired by the spirit of Louisa May Alcott to say, ‘I want it all and I want it big and I want what the boys get! I deserve it, we deserve it!’
Saoirse Ronan: Actors tend to [say], ‘oh, no I wasn’t that good in this.’ But sometimes you need to get to the stage where you’re like, ‘no, I’ve been doing this for long enough and I know that that was a good performance. I did add something to this.’
It’s not cocky to do that. Athletes do it. Athletes are like, ‘yeah, I was really fast today’ or dancers are like, ‘I was a sh** today.’ We need to be more black and white about it and say I did a good job.
Laura Dern: …Or as a lead in a film to hear that an actor who has come in to do three scenes in two days, when you’re working on a film for three months and not being paid and they’re being paid enormously…it never occurred to us some years ago. Now we’re asking the right questions.
Greta Gerwig: I remember people said to me, ‘do people know what owning a copyright is or what a back-end percentage?’…And that day in New York City I saw a girl in the subway with a necklace on that said, ‘pay me in equity.’ I was like, if a girl on the subway in New York is wearing a necklace that says, ‘pay me in equity’ they certainly know what a copyright is. The specificity of financial negotiation is exactly where women are.
Laura Dern: It’s easy as artists to say what we need but when it comes to worth it’s such a new day and a huge struggle for a lot of women. Gender parity and pay parity is essential. We have to get comfortable with being our own advocates.
Florence Pugh: I understand when you’re starting out you don’t want to create a fuss. Also, the biggest threat is that they can cast someone else tomorrow. Until you’re someone who has some leeway they can get rid of you and get someone for even cheaper. There are hundreds of actors who will do it because they want to be a part of it. I understand why it’s hard to be demanding in the beginning. But when you start feeling your weight you should definitely start exercising it.
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For more details on “Little Women” click here.
