Evan Rachel Wood isnt the only Westworld actress who has finally been promised pay equivalent to her male co-stars. Thandie Newton, who plays fan-favorite host Maeve on the HBO series—which returns for its second season April 22—told Vanity Fair at the New York premiere of Season 2 that she, too, has been in talks to reach an agreement for Season 3 in which shes paid the same as her male on-screen counterparts.
“Theyre all happening right now, and yeah, were all equal across the board,” Newton said of the ongoing contract negotiations. “Its really exciting. Its unprecedented. Its—goodness; it shatters so much calcified pain, resentment, frustration. It just shatters it.”
Newton is so enlivened by HBOs commitment to pay equality, in fact, that she vowed Thursday evening to turn down projects that offer her anything less in the future—meaning that any filmmakers and producers hoping to pay the Maeves of the world less than the Bernards need not apply.
“I wouldnt do anything if it didnt. Definitely not,” she said. “Fuck that. It literally sets a precedent, and [HBO is] leading the way, which is amazing.”
In an interview with The Wrap earlier this week, Wood revealed that for the first time in her 25-year career, she will be paid the same as the male actors around her for Westworld Season 3. “I almost got emotional,” she said. “I was like, I have never been paid the same as my male counterparts. . . . This is the first time that somebody made a point of being like, Hey, youre getting this. And you deserve it. And that was nice.”
Speaking at the shows Tribeca premiere, Wood expanded on the news, saying that shes “glad, and I hope that it can set an example for other industries and we can start being a part of leading the charge. It was a nice surprise.”
Though she didnt take a stance as strong as her British co-stars “fuck you,” Wood did say shes optimistic that in “leading the charge,” more productions will follow suit.
“Its an uncomfortable conversation to have, but I think people have to start being more open and talking to each other about it, and peers have to start talking about it,” she continued. “Otherwise, the silence keeps perpetuating it, you know? It makes it easier to do shady dealings. So I think were all gonna have to just kind of be uncomfortable for a second so that we can sort it out.”
The Wrap indicated that Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris were the co-stars who were previously paid more than Wood. While Wood demurred when asked if there was a difference between her salary and those of her co-stars Jeffrey Wright and James Marsden, Wright did express his support for the equal-pay initiative.
“I just think its pretty obvious that we all work on this show well. We work hard,” Wright said. “If you work 16 hours and youre a woman, its the same 16 hours that you work if youre a man. So it just all makes sense to me. Its as it should be.”
Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy also concurred, saying that equal pay is both common sense and something theyve been advocating for for some time.
“Equal pay is a topic that is near and dear to my heart on a personal and a professional level, so we have been advocating for it, and Im thrilled that we have achieved it,” Joy said. Nolan added that closing pay gaps between their actors and actresses has been important to them for “many years.”
“Were looking forward to a moment in which this is how everyone [is] treated,” he concluded. “Equal pay is whats good.”
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