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JESSICA HELPED OCTAVIA SPENCER GET A RAISE

Oscarwinne­r Octavia Spencer reveals how coactor Jessica Chastain got both of them higher pay for an upcoming film

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Oscar and Emmywinnin­g actor Meryl Streep has joined the cast of the second season of the TV show Big Little Lies.

Streep will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Perry Wright (played by Alexander Skarsgard), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mary Louise Wright is described as a woman who is concerned for the wellbeing of her grandchild­ren following her son Perry’s death. She arrives in Monterey searching for answers.

The studio announced in December that “the show would return for a second season, with most of the main cast from season one returning. Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoo­n will again be executive producers, in addition to starring in the show.

The first season was based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, while the new season will be based partially on a new story by the author. The show premiered in early 2017.

PTI

Actor Octavia Spencer has revealed that her friend Jessica Chastain helped her get five times her salary for their upcoming movie together. The two actors, who previously worked together in the 2011 movie The Help, are reuniting in an upcoming holiday comedy produced by Chastain.

During a panel discussion at the Sundance Film Festival, Spencer recalled how Chastain, 40, negotiated equal pay for her.

“About 15 months ago, Jessica Chastain contacted me and said, ‘I want us to do a comedy,’. I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ She called me six months later, which would have been last March, and we were talking about pay equity with men and women. She was like, ‘It’s time that women get paid as much as men.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah Jessica, it’s time!’ We were dropping F-bombs and getting it all out there. And then I said, ‘But here’s the thing, women of colour on that spectrum, we make far less than white women. So, if we’re gonna have that conversati­on about pay equity, we gotta bring the women of colour to the table. And I told her my story, and we talked numbers, and she was quiet, and she said she had no idea that that’s what it was like for women of colour,” Spencer, 47, said.

Nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Shape of Water, Spencer got emotional as she told her story. “I love that woman because she’s walking the walk and she’s actually talking the talk. She said, ‘Octavia, we’re gonna get you paid on this film. You and I are gonna be tied together. We’re gonna be favoured nations, and we’re gonna make the same thing.’ Fast forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for,” she added. PTI

Pop star Enrique Iglesias, on Wednesday, accused his former label, Universal, of short-changing artists while benefiting from the soaring growth of streaming, as he filed a lawsuit for breach of contract.

“Universal has been systematic­ally underpayin­g Iglesias’ streaming royalties by calculatin­g those royalties at a small fraction of the contractua­lly required 50% royalty rate,” said the lawsuit filed. The lawsuit alleged that

 ?? PHOTO: LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS PHOTO: ANGELA WEISS/AFP ?? Jessica Chastain (left) and Octavia Spencer (above) will be seen together in an upcoming comedy film
PHOTO: LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS PHOTO: ANGELA WEISS/AFP Jessica Chastain (left) and Octavia Spencer (above) will be seen together in an upcoming comedy film
 ?? PHOTO: LEIGH VOGEL/ GETTY IMAGES/AFP ?? Meryl Streep will play the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s character in Big Little Lies
PHOTO: LEIGH VOGEL/ GETTY IMAGES/AFP Meryl Streep will play the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s character in Big Little Lies

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