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Re: Netflix's "House Of Cards"
How Robin Wright Negotiated Equal Pay on ‘House of Cards’
When the actress Robin Wright was negotiating a pay raise that would make her earnings for “House of Cards” equal to those of her co-star Kevin Spacey, she used a tactic that would’ve made her alter ego, Claire Underwood, proud: She leveraged her power by threatening to go public about pay inequality.
Ms. Wright, who plays a calculating first lady to Mr. Spacey’s equally ruthless President Frank Underwood on the Netflix drama, told the audience at a Rockefeller Foundation event in New York on Tuesday that she’d learned the two characters were equally popular with viewers.
“So I capitalized on it,” Ms. Wright told the room, according to The Huffington Post. “I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public.’ ”
“And they did.”
Mr. Spacey was making $500,000 per episode in 2014, according to reports, making him one of the highest-paid actors on TV. That year, Ms. Wright won a Golden Globe Award for best actress for her work on the show. In 2015, Mr. Spacey won for best actor. That year, Forbes reported that Ms. Wright’s earnings — $5.5 million — were beginning to catch up to Mr. Spacey’s.
Ms. Wright joined a growing group of actresses who have spoken out recently on pay inequality in Hollywood, spurred in part by a rousing speech made onstage at the 2015 Oscars by Patricia Arquette. (Ms. Arquette later said she had lost roles for the comments about equal pay.)
Months later, the issue was raised again by Jennifer Lawrence, the Oscar-winning star of “Winter’s Bone,” “Joy” and the “Hunger Games” franchise. Data exposed by the Sony Pictures hack in 2014 showed that she had been paid less than her male colleagues for the film “American Hustle.”
In October, Ms. Lawrence wrote in Lena Dunham’s newsletter, Lenny: “Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves. If anything, I’m sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share.”
Not all high-profile actresses believe that discussing personal pay issues in Hollywood is appropriate. In an interview with Cosmopolitan in April, Scarlett Johansson said that it would be “icky” for her to discuss her experience with Hollywood’s pay gap.
“There’s something icky about me having that conversation unless it applies to a greater whole,” she said. “I am very fortunate; I make a really good living, and I’m proud to be an actress who’s making as much as many of my male peers at this stage.”
But social media users had much applause for Ms. Wright.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/arts/ … cards.html
Good for her, a victory for feminism. Sure she plays a side character and not many would still watch if Spacey left and it was just her, but Hollywood!
Re: Netflix's "House Of Cards"
What a joke. Nobody is watching this show because of Robin Wright. I'd pay them to write her out!
She's also the worst part of the show in many ways. She's a good actress, but her character is annoying.
Alot of people watch this show, because they want to see Spacey as Frank Underwood the main character, a corrupt manipulative politician who makes it to the white house. She thinks they watch it, because they want to watch sub plots about Claire deciding whether or not to have affairs.
Re: Netflix's "House Of Cards"
polluxlm wrote:What a joke. Nobody is watching this show because of Robin Wright. I'd pay them to write her out!
She's also the worst part of the show in many ways. She's a good actress, but her character is annoying.
Alot of people watch this show, because they want to see Spacey as Frank Underwood the main character, a corrupt manipulative politician who makes it to the white house. She thinks they watch it, because they want to watch sub plots about Claire deciding whether or not to have affairs.
I like Robin Wright but you are correct here. Her subplots in S3 and S4 were pretty boring--with the dying mother plot and her having an affair with the biographer/speech writer. Oh and I never bought the UN ambassador plotline either.
Oh and if we are listing negatives here: the actor who plays Underwood's adversary in the general election in S4, Will, is horrible.
Re: Netflix's "House Of Cards"
Just finished the most recent season.
It was a chore to get through endless episodes of filler only for things to heat up in the last few episodes to go in a completely anti-climatic direction.
I complain about shows that I watch frequently then still watch them... through to the end of habit, I will not be watching next season. Such a ridiculous direction for the show to go in, it's as if they didn't hear the complains about previous seasons.
It's like this is a vanity project for the actors to get paid for.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Netflix's "House Of Cards"
I loved season 1 and 2.
To me there's a perfect end point at the end of season 2.
Season 3 and 4 the plot was just kinda obvious and contrived to me - although still watchable for the good actors etc.
Season 5 to me - and it feels a bit like Game of Thrones where I feel what happens now is based on audience feedback of the characters rather than a natural progression of the story.
I enjoy watching it anyway - but I find some of the way the characters have evolved now to be sort of absurd and while it's still entertaining to me it's very much 'jumped the shark' compared to the masterful stuff in season 1.
Re: Netflix's "House Of Cards"
I agree 100% Monkey. For anyone who hasn't watched it Season 1 & 2 are great stuff. I had it recommended to me when season 2 dropped by a friend. I checked it out and binged it. It's great. I was never into the West Wing but it almost made me want to give that a shot I loved the writing so much. Then Season 3 happened, and it just kinda waned. I struggled to get thru the end and then never bothered to pick back up for season 4 or 5, just not interested anymore.
