Pay gap dispute hits Hollywood in ‘All the Money’
Mark Wahlberg got paid $1.5 million for reshoot while Michelle Williams took in less than $1,000.
Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for reshooting his scenes in All the
Money in the World, three people familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it tell USA TODAY, while Michelle Williams was paid an $80 per diem totaling less than $1,000.
That works out to Williams being paid less than one-tenth of 1% of her male co-star.
Ridley Scott’s Getty kidnapping drama was hastily reshot the week of Thanksgiving after a cascade of sexual misconduct allegations were made public against Kevin Spacey, who previously starred in the drama as billionaire J. Paul Getty.
Scott transfixed the film world by quickly assembling his actors in Europe, reshooting Spacey’s scenes with Christopher Plummer — and still making his Christmas release window.
The wave of publicity that followed made All the Money in the World, distributed by Sony and financed by Imperative Entertainment, roll into the Sunday’s Golden Globes as a relative triumph.
But new information reveals ugly math behind the Hollywood victory. The reshoot cost $10 million (a fee put up by producing arm Imperative). In December, Scott told USA TODAY that the undertaking was aided by the fact that “everyone did it for nothing.”
The exchange went as follows: SCOTT: “The whole reshoot was — in normal terms was expensive but not as expensive as you think. Because all of them, everyone did it for nothing.” USA TODAY: “Really?” SCOTT: “No, I wouldn’t get paid, I refused to get paid.”
USA TODAY: “You didn’t pay the actors more to do it?”
SCOTT: “No, they all came in free. Christopher had to get paid. But Mi-
chelle, no. Me, no. I wouldn’t do that to —”
USA TODAY: “The crew, of course, did get paid?”
SCOTT: “Of course. “
USA TODAY has since learned Wahlberg’s team actually negotiated a hefty fee, with the actor paid $1.5 million for his reshoots. Williams wasn’t told.
Wahlberg and Williams are both represented by the William Morris Endeavor agency. Actors pay a team of agents, managers and lawyers an average of 10% of their salaries to advocate for them.
Representatives for Wahlberg, Williams, WME, Sony, Imperative Entertainment and Scott did not respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment.
In August, Forbes named Wahlberg the highest-paid actor of the year, calculating his pretax and pre-fee earnings at $68 million. The Washington Post first reported Wahlberg’s reshoot fee, noting that the actor “along with manager Stephen Levinson and agency WME, have a reputation in Hollywood for driving a tough bargain.”
Williams previously told USA TODAY that when Scott’s team called to request her time for the reshoot, “I said I’d be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me. And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort.”
All the Money in the World has lagged at the box office, this past weekend coming in 10th place. The drama has grossed $20.2 million since its release two weeks ago.
The pay disparity arrives as the entertainment industry continues to be rocked by the downfall of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, a flood of sexual misconduct allegations against dozens of other powerful Hollywood figures and a rising #MeToo movement.
Two days ago at the Golden Globes, male and female stars wore black in solidarity with the newly established Time’s Up initiative, which pushes for protection for victims of sexual harassment and gender inequality.
Williams, Globe-nominated for her role in All the Money in the World, was one of them.