Jessica Chastain Is Pushing for Gender Equality in Hollywood

Jessica Chastain is making sure her voice is being heard in Hollywood as she pushed for gender equality.

The 40-year-old The Zookeeper’s Wife actress spoke with Variety to share her views on equal pay between female and male actors.

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“I’m not taking jobs anymore where I’m getting paid a quarter of what the male co-star is being paid,” Jessica said. I’m not allowing that in my life.”

Over her career, Jessica has become an outspoken advocate for gender equality and has pushed for more female directors and crew along with seeking better representation of female characters on screen.

“There was something huge that I recently turned down,” Jessica said. “For me, it wasn’t about the money; it was an old-fashioned problem of the wage gap. I turned it down, and they didn’t come back. I remember afterwards I was like, ‘What did I do? Maybe it was a mistake.’ But it wasn’t, because everyone in the studio system heard what I did. So what you’re doing is creating a reputation: Don’t bring Jessica something where she’s not being fairly compensated compared to the male actor. Even though I lost that film, I’ve created a boundary. I drew a line in the sand.”