Demelza: I should be paid the same as Poldark
POLDARK’S Eleanor Tomlinson has entered the equal pay row, saying it is no longer acceptable that star Aidan Turner earns more than her.
The actress, who plays Demelza Poldark in the popular BBC1 drama, admitted that Turner was a bigger name when the series started in 2015.
But she insisted, with a fourth series due to start this summer, they are now both its leads and so should receive the same salary. Asked if she thought they were paid the same amount, Miss Tomlinson replied: ‘My guess is no. And while at the beginning that might have been OK – he was a bigger star than me – now I don’t think so.
‘We’re equal leads of the show, so I’d be pretty upset if the gap hadn’t closed.’
A spokesman for Mammoth Screen, which makes the series, yesterday confirmed Turner, 34, is paid more than 26-year-old Miss Tomlinson.
‘While we can’t and won’t disclose the details, we do pay Aidan Turner more for playing Ross Poldark as throughout all series Ross has significantly more screen time than any other character,’ the spokesman said.
Miss Tomlinson told Red magazine she and Turner are great friends but added: ‘(We argue about) everything, usually our characters. We’re both ridiculously protective of them and squabble like an old married couple. Usually it’s one of us saying that our character wouldn’t behave a certain way. Aidan loves everything being his (character’s). But then he loves to wind me up.’
Turner became a heartthrob following his shirtless scenes in the series, and Miss Tomlinson said: ‘It was all people could talk about... (But) I get it. I’m looking, going, “I’m with you ladies”. But I can see why he got frustrated with it.’
The full interview with Eleanor Tomlinson appears in the July issue of Red, on sale on May 30.