‘Poldark’ star Eleanor Tomlinson has said she would be “pretty upset” if she found out she is paid less than the show’s lead Aidan Turner.
The actress, who plays Demelza, spoke about the gender pay gap on the BBC drama in an interview with Red magazine, where she stated her belief that her role was on equal footing with Aidan’s.
While she admitted her and Aidan had never spoken about their pay, Eleanor was then asked if she believed they received the same salary.
“My guess is no,” she said. “And while at the beginning that might have been OK - he was a bigger star than me - now I don’t think so.
“We’re equal leads of the show, so I’d be pretty upset if the gap hadn’t closed.”
However, when the magazine approached the show’s production company, Mammoth Screen, for comment, they confirmed Aidan does indeed receive more money than Eleanor, noting he has a bigger role to play.
A spokesperson said: “Whilst we can’t and won’t disclose the details, we do pay Aidan Turner more for playing Ross Poldark as throughout all series Ross has significantly more screen time than any other character.”
‘Poldark’ originally aired on the BBC back in the 1970s, but was rebooted with Aidan in the titular role back in 2015.
At that time, he had already had film roles in all the films of ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, as well as lead roles in TV series ‘Being Human’ and ‘Desperate Romantics’.
Meanwhile, Eleanor had enjoyed a number of roles in period dramas, including ‘The White Queen’ and ‘Death Comes To Pemberley’. She’d also had small roles in films ‘Jack The Giant Slayer’ and ‘Alice In Wonderland’.
The fourth series of ‘Poldark’ is due to hit screens later this year, and it has been confirmed that the action will jump forward several years to 1797.
Read the full interview with Eleanor in this month’s Red magazine, on sale 30 May.