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Jennifer Lawrence has been advocating for equal pay since the 2014 Sony Pictures leak, which revealed that she and Amy Adams had made less money than their American Hustle male co-stars.
The Hunger Games lead has since learned to negotiate her salary without fear of being branded "difficult," as she initially explained in an op-ed for Lena Dunham's now-defunct newsletter LennyLetter.
American Hustle's Christian Bale And Bradley Cooper Were Offered More Than Jennifer Lawrence
Released in 2013, American Hustle was directed by David O. Russell, who had previously worked with Lawrence and Cooper on Silver Linings Playbook in 2012. That film received critical acclaim, as well as earning Lawrence an Oscar for Best Actress for her turn as Tiffany Maxwell.
By the time she worked on American Hustle — and with roles in two lucrative franchises such as The Hunger Games and X-Men under her belt — Lawrence was a bankable star. Her star power and image were used to attract moviegoers in the marketing of Russell's film, which is why it was shocking for the actress to find out that she had been paid less than her male co-stars.
For American Hustle, Lawrence got $1.25 million and was offered 7% of the proceeds. These are normally cashed in once the movie breaks even.
Adams signed the same deal, while Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and the director were offered 9%. The leaked emails also specified that Lawrence's offer was bumped up from 5% (via The Daily Beast).
The deal seemed particularly unfair to Adams. As Deadline reported, she worked 45 days against Lawrence's 19 and was offered the same salary and back end points.
However, their co-star Jeremy Renner, who was on set the same amount of days as Lawrence, took 9% of the proceeds against her and Adams' 7%.
Jennifer Lawrence Felt She Failed As A Negotiator For Taking The Offer
"When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d**ks, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself," Lawrence wrote in her 2015 op-ed.
"I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn't want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don't need."
The two-time Oscar winner (she would win her second Oscar for American Hustle in 2014) said she didn't want to seem spoiled, therefore refrained from asking for what she believed she was worth.
"If I'm honest with myself, I would be lying if I didn't say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled,'" Lawrence wrote.
"This could be a young-person thing. It could be a personality thing. I'm sure it's both. But ... based on the statistics, I don't think I'm the only woman with this issue.
"Are we socially conditioned to behave this way? ... Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesn't 'offend' or 'scare' men?"
Much Jennifer Lawrence Made For Passengers
It sure seems that Lawrence learned how to negotiate her contracts the hard way. One of the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, the Joy star turned the embarrassing Sony leak into a lesson to keep in mind for her future projects.
With the same studio, she signed to appear in 2016 sci-fi romantic drama Passengers, also starring Chris Pratt. For Morten Tyldum's film, the actress reportedly took a paycheck of $20 million, with Sony agreeing to match her quote.
Pratt, meanwhile, "just" got $12, an increase to the original offer of $10 off the back of his success in the Jurassic World franchise as well as his Guardians of the Galaxy stint.
Jennifer Lawrence's Current Movie Salary
Thanks to her talent and her negative experience when negotiating for American Hustle, Lawrence's salary is now estimated to be between $15 and $20 million.
For Adam McKay's recent sci-fi satire Don't Look Up, the actress took home the whopping figure of $25 million. Her salary was a whole $5 million less than what her male co-star Leonardo DiCaprio made. Nonetheless, Lawrence wasn't bothered by the disparity on this occasion, recognizing her fellow Oscar winner's opening power.
"Look, Leo brings in more box office than I do," the actress told Vanity Fair in November last year.
Though she admitted she still finds it uncomfortable to negotiate her deals due to the disparity actresses encounter in their job. This hasn't changed, as Scream's Neve Campbell is the latest example of a studio not willing to match a female star's quote, leaving the actress feeling that a male peer would have been offered more.
"I'm extremely fortunate and happy with my deal. But in other situations, what I have seen—and I'm sure other women in the workforce have seen as well—is that it's extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay," Lawrence continued.
"And if you do question something that appears unequal, you're told it's not gender disparity, but they can't tell you what exactly it is."
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