Charlize Theron addresses Hollywood’s gender pay gap during passionate panel discussion

Charlize Theron waded in to the gender pay gap debate at 2017 Comic-Con on Saturday (22Jul17).
The Mad Max: Fury Road actress was at the convention in San Diego, California to promote new movie Atomic Blonde, in which she plays a strong female character, a ruthless British spy on a mission in Berlin near the end of the Cold War.
So the 41-year-old star was an obvious choice to take part in Entertainment Weekly’s Women Who Kick A*s: Icon edition panel on Saturday, which she used as an opportunity to stand up for women in the film industry.
Speaking about her new film and “movies like Wonder Woman succeeding,” Charlize stated that such projects were helping to bridge the gap in the salaries of actors and actress, because they ultimately took “the option away from studios” as the lead character is female.
“I always say to studios, ‘Make more female-driven movies,'” Charlize explained. “They said, ‘We would if people go and see them.’ So go see those movies!”
Charlize also addressed her own personal experience of Hollywood’s gender pay gap, admitting she put her foot down when discussing her role as Ravenna in The Huntsman: Winter’s War with bosses. Demanding the same pay as the film’s male lead Chris Hemsworth, Charlize was pleasantly surprised when they said yes immediately, with no argument.
The actress was rumoured to have received a $10 million (£7.7 million) pay rise for the sequel to 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman.
When it comes to her position in Hollywood, Charlize acknowledged she is privileged enough to be able to pick and choose roles – where many actresses aren’t quite as lucky.
“With social media, we need to keep this conversation going,” she said, referring to the gender pay discussion. “We’re just as good as the guys!”