Please adjust your Hollywood Chris rankings accordingly, because Bryce Dallas Howard has revealed that her Jurassic World co-star Chris Pratt was instrumental in fighting for pay equity.
Despite having the most iconic scene across the trilogy (yes, you can outrun a bloodthirsty tyrannosaurus rex in high heels), the actor said she was paid “so much less” than her male co-star for the blockbuster franchise.
Speaking with Insider in a recent interview, Howard shared that initial reports about her earning $2 million less than Pratt’s $10 million payday for the 2018 sequel “Fallen Kingdom,” were greatly exaggerated in the worst way.
“The reports were so interesting because I was paid so much less than the reports even said, so much less,” Howard told the outlet. “When I started negotiating for ‘Jurassic,’ it was 2014, and it was a different world, and I was at a great disadvantage. And, unfortunately, you have to sign up for three movies, and so your deals are set.”
Howard shared that when she brought Pratt into a conversation about their pay gap, he took it upon himself to ensure that they were paid the same rate for the various deals orbiting the franchise, including theme parks and video games.
“What I will say is that Chris and I have discussed it, and whenever there was an opportunity to move the needle on stuff that hadn’t been already negotiated, like a game or a ride, he literally told me: ‘You guys don’t even have to do anything. I’m gonna do all the negotiating. We’re gonna be paid the same, and you don’t have to think about this, Bryce,’” Howard said.
“And I love him so much for doing that,” she continued. “I really do, because I’ve been paid more for those kinds of things than I ever was for the movie.”
The franchise concluded this year with Jurassic World: Dominion, which underwhelmed critics and fans alike, despite raking in a sizeable global box office return of $974 million.
Howard’s story is, of course, the norm when it comes to Hollywood and beyond. A team of economists determined in 2019 that on average male actors earn approximately $1 million more per movie than their female co-stars with similar amounts of experience.
Stars, including Michelle Williams, Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Lawrence, Taraji P. Henson and Amy Schumer, have all advocated for equity within the industry in recent years with each sharing their own stories about glaring pay disparities.