LOS ANGELES – In the upcoming female-led action thriller The 355, all the actresses will receive the same pay, thanks to producer Jessica Chastain, who also appears in the movie.
The other four female leads in the movie are Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o and Fan Bingbing, who is making her comeback after her tax-fraud scandal in 2018.
Kruger, 45, brought up the unusual pay parity in an interview in the latest issue of Women's Health.
"It felt great to work with girls and there was no weirdness on set. Jessica made sure all of the actresses were paid the same; we all own a piece of the movie," said the German-American actress. "Regardless of how the film does, it was one of the most complete experiences."
The mother of a three-year-old daughter added that Chastain, 44, made the film set a welcoming environment: "One thing that was wonderful about this film was that many of us were mothers. We were allowed to bring our children to the set and had a trailer for the kids. That was a lovely thing, where you can sense that the producer is a woman with a child."
Chastain has two young children with Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, an Italian count of the Passi de Preposulo noble family.
She has been an advocate for equal representation and fair pay in Hollywood for years.
In 2018, actress Octavia Spencer revealed at the Sundance Film Festival that Chastain, whom she worked with on 2011's The Help, helped her get five times her asking salary for a project they were doing together.
Spencer said: "I love that woman because she's walking the walk and she's actually talking the talk."
The 355 opens in January next year.
Artmotion Asia
