He’s the star of airhead movie fluff such as Dude, Where’s My Car? and the ‘brains’ behind the TV series Punk’d.
She is the Oscar winning scene-stealer of Black Swan and now dazzles as the lead in the just-released Jackie, the critically-acclaimed bio-pic about former First Lady Jackie Kennedy.
But in a sit-down interview with Marie Claire UK, Natalie Portman reveals that Ashton Kutcher was paid three-times more than her for their 2011 movie, No Strings Attached.
“I knew and I went along with it because there’s this thing with ‘quotes’ in Hollywood,” reveals Natalie.
“His was three times higher than mine so they said he should get three times more.”
“I wasn’t as pissed as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy.
“Compared to men, in most professions, women make 80 cents to the dollar. In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar.”
But Natalie, who is expecting her second child with her French dancer husband Benjamin Millepied, is now fighting back.
So passionate about balancing the books, she demanded a woman be chosen to direct her upcoming movie, On the Basis of Sex.
In the film, Natalie will play Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who in 1993 became just the second woman to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
“I don’t think women and men are more or less capable [as directors], we just have a clear issue with women not having opportunities,” she said to Marie Claire.
“We need to be part of the solution, not perpetuating the problem. As this story is specifically about gender discrimination, I was like, ‘How dare we not hire a female.'”
Meanwhile, Ashton has spoken out on Twitter in support of Natalie’s pay-gap revelation.
“So proud of Natalie and all women who stand up for closing the gender pay gap!” the actor wrote online Wednesday, also sharing a link to the interview.
Adds Natalie: “I feel energised to be an activist; that our art is more urgent than ever. It’s more important to be as good a person as you can be in your community and to be really active in helping people who need more help now.”
