Julie: I was ahead of the curve on equal pay
WHEN the gender pay gap at the BBC hit the headlines last week, it wasn’t news to Julie Walters.
The 67-year-old actress had already started campaigning against the massive discrepancies in earnings for men and women on TV and in films.
The Harry Potter star said the pay gap between actors and actresses was ‘wrong’. In an interview held before female BBC staff complained about their pay last week, she said: ‘It’s about equality of opportunity.
‘It’s good that we’re talking about it. It should be out there. A lot of people don’t know.’ Dame Julie, who played Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films, told Good Housekeeping: ‘Men were earning more money. Why? It’s the same bloody job!’
In quotes printed in the September issue, she added: ‘Women go to the cinema more, generally speaking, so it doesn’t make sense from that point of view. Equal pay is the answer.’