Oops! Scarlett Johansson just proved that there really is salary inequality in Hollywood. However, as opposed to Jennifer Lawrence, who wrote an essay to express how she was not happy about getting paid lass than her “American Hustle” co-stars Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner, the Black Widow actress was the one who took home the big bucks instead of her masculine co-actors in the second “Avengers” film, next to Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr.
Apparently, the amount of money paid to each star in Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" have been revealed, and it's clear that there were actors who won some and lost some. Unsurprisingly, Robert Downey remains to be a force to be reckoned with as he continues to win the biggest share in the franchise. For the said film, he earned $40 million.
However, this is not that surprising since Business Insider noted that his Stony Stark franchise that started in 2008 actually founded the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that the famous "Avengers" actors now inhabit.
The ultimate shocker however came from the revelation that would somehow disprove the ongoing backlash Hollywood gets for allegedly paying female actors less than their male co-stars. As opposed to being the last on the list if salary inequality really exists, Scarlett Johansson trumped her other fellow "Avengers" actors by earning $20 million for her portrayal of Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff, as per International Business Times.
The amount paid to Johansson was so huge it put her hunky actors to shame, for they earned not only less than $10 million, $9 million or $8 million. Instead they earned less than $7 million, which is just a tad higher than the quarter of Scarlett's pay.
Chris Evans, who played Captain America aka Steve Rogers, earned $6.9 million, while Renner, who played Hawkeye aka Clint Barton, brought home $6.1 million. The bulky Chris Hemsworth, who played god of Thunder Thor, walked away with only $5.4 million. As for Mark Ruffalo, who portrayed Hulk, he only earned $2.8 million.
The figures may have been shocking since the issue of the gender pay gap continues to be a major concern. So much so that "Hunger Games" actress Jennifer Lawrence bravely pointed this out in an essay she penned. And this is coming from Hollywood's highest paid actress who made $52 million, noted Hollywood.com.
The essay was written by Lawrence after she found out that she got paid less than what her male "American Hustle" co-stars were paid. However, at the time Renner commented that though he supports salary equality, he is the type who is more focused on his delivery of the role he is portraying than the money he will get out of it.
"I'm a performer and I know human behavior. When it comes to that sort of stuff I let other people deal with that. I do what I'm good at, that's what I focus on," Renner said, as quoted by ETOnline.
While the issue on gender pay persists and while many advocates continue to work in closing the gap, it would be interesting to find out if Johansson will be earning as much as Robert Downey in "Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1."
