Robin Wright is promoting the hell out of House of Cards. She’s in Cannes and she’s also on the cover of the latest issue of The Edit – you can see her Edit interview and editorial here. She talks about how her whole attitude shifted in her 40s and 50s and she’s less likely to take crap from anyone. She also said she recently learned that Netflix has been lying to her when they said she was now making the same salary as her costar, Kevin Spacey: “I was told that I was getting equal pay and I believed them, and I found out recently that it’s not true… so that’s something to investigate.” That’s interesting. She also tells The Edit, “I only want to direct. I don’t want to be in front of the camera anymore. I’ve done it, I’m bored. I so appreciate [this career], I’ve been doing it 30 years, but I love watching and helping other actors bring [their talent] to fruition.” That’s also interesting.
So, it sounds more and more like Robin doesn’t want to do House of Cards much longer. It’s not just boredom though – she told Variety that she feels like the Trump White House has eclipsed any storylines the show could possibly do. Some highlights from Robin’s Cannes interview:
On Trump: “Trump has stolen all of our ideas for season 6.”
She wants to feel hopeful: “I’ve got to see the hope somewhere,” said Wright, admitting she feels, “Oh my God, we have four years of this.”
She wants a President MObama: “I want Michelle Obama up there. She would be a great female president.”
On feminism & Hollywood: “You don’t have to yell,” said Wright. “You can just stand your ground, speak your truth, and amplify your voice in that way.” Feminism, she said has problematic connotations. “Feminism today has become such a derogatory or diva like word,” said Wright. “Feminism means equality period. Equal work, equal pay.”
On sexual harassment at work: As a 17-year old in Paris, she went in for an audition and was told to lift up her top. When she did, she was told by the man overseeing her appointment, “No, I like the other [actress’] ones, I don’t like.’” So what happened? “I didn’t get the part,” she said.
I want to believe that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore, where a 17-year-old actress would be ordered to lift up her shirt in an audition. But it probably still happens and that’s depressing. No wonder Robin doesn’t want to act anymore. As for what she says about feminism… I don’t think she’s saying that SHE has a problem with the word “feminist,” she’s saying other people have problems with the word.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Spacey’s an exec producer and most season’s he’s on-screen a fair bit more, so I do wonder what equal pay means here. If she’s being paid the same as Spacey for her time at work, then I imagine that yes, between what he get’s for producing and shooting more, he makes considerably more. Which I don’t really think is unfair.
Robin Wright is also now an exec producer, and also directed a bunch of episodes in the last series.
That argument would be ok if it were that in the first season she demanded equal pay. She didn’t. Spacey is sure the one with the bigger name and the one who got the show running. But NOW things have changed and any tv critic will tell you that Wright is basically outacting Spacey, his showy hammy performance is peanuts compared of what she does. Which is extremely difficult and is a testament of her talent. Another thing to consider is that TV is not film. The star power is just one of the many variables that makes renegotiations successful. One example is GoT, where many actors making millions are barely famous. Wright deserves every penny because most people came for Spacey, but stayed for her.
There’s always at least one comment like this on any article about a woman demanding equal pay. “Yeah, but, he’s got more star power! Yeah, but, he was on screen 15% more!”
Please. Women make less overall, consistently, it’s a problem, it’s rooted in sexism, conscious or not, and I don’t care if there is an outlier here or there where it’s actually warranted that the female co-star makes less. It’s far, far more likely that the female co-star makes less for no reason except she’s a woman.
Word. Thank you Kristen.
I quit this show really early. When Spaceys character threw a journalist in front of a moving train at a public subway station, I said “nah, I’m out. Who would believe this?” And now we are at the point that this show is realistic now? Sad. Anyway, its not so much that she isnt earning the same ….he really dominated the one season I saw….but that they are lying to her about it. Thats just despicable and she is right to air it.
Who would think that a TV show would be unrealistic??? Crazy!!!
Isn’t that terrifying that I read the worl sad in the Trump voice anytime I see it? Like SAAAAD. SO SAD. SUPER SAD. and the worst thing os I am not even living in the US. See my fellow Americans what you did to the whole world. Truly SAD.
As for Robin, she sure is not someone who takes crap in her life anymore. Good for her. The one who comes off bad in this whole story is Kevin Spacy. The would not be a House of Cards show without Claire Underwood. Going behind her back does not speak well to his actions.
I do like her with short hair better though. Or maybe it’s because I have a short Claire Underwood haorcut now. Otherwise I really like her suit with those lepard print shoes.
Well is not a secret that she wanted out from HoC ever since season 3. But Netflix back then was only building their original content so they just kept throwing money to them to keep them interested. I think the renegotiations of her contract must be super complex and interesting: her agents are non other than CAA’s super boss bitch Kevin Huvane and Hylda Queally (Blanchett, Chastain, Nyongo) …I mean, is not like they’re the new kids in town. Without a doubt, as for TODAY, thew show could not work without Wright, she has co-billing credit with Spacey and without her it would be just Kevin being hammy for 13 episodes, she’s great at counterbalancing his overacting with her subtle, precise acting. So I think there a lot more than we don’t know really, behind the scenes of these tv contract renegotiations.
As for her other statements I found interesting something she said and Kaiser didn’t reported here: her take on the “Ask her more” controversy: she finds is not sexist, and actresses know the red carpet is for show fashion so she’s fine with being asked. You don’t like it? just skip it. You can talk about your work in a whole lot of other places and occasions.
She signed on thinking she got the same pay as Kevin Spacey? Even just for the acting bits? No offense but alarm bells would have gone off in my head so hard I’d have tinnitus.
Yes, that sort of thing still happens – a few years back, I had, frankly, the displeasure of weighing in on the casting of a lead female role (no, you haven’t heard of it or seen it). Was the best actress cast? Nope. Was the actress that the male lead/producer wanted to bang (he didn’t say it but it was obvious) the most cast? Guess.
I was pissed off, ashamed and discouraged (still am) and I expect that was only a fraction of what the actresses felt. A lot of us try to make the best thing we can make but too many, in positions of authority, make it their own personal flesh farm.
I don’t think at the beginning she should have gotten the same pay as Kevin Spacey – her career was nowhere near equal to his.
Once the show got going, it made sense to increase hers.
I appreciate that she’s not afraid to talk about pay.
Also, I hope Penn had to give her millions of dollars, so she can pursue directing without fear! 🙂
Even if she’s making less than Spacey, at her reportedly 420k per episode at least for the latest 3 seasons and not far from it for the earlier ones, oh honey, you’re settled for life. Which means that just for this show alone she has probably earned around 25/30 million. Add to that the DC money for Wonder Woman and Blade Runner. Her fee certainly went higher after the show. She has probably made more money with House of Cards than Penn did in the same period of time or even more. She doesn’t need Penn’s divorce settlement and she probably never did. I still remember how he publicly whined about how Robin took “half his money” (California’s 50/50)
“She would be a great female president.” I don’t know… that bugs me. How about ‘she would be a great president.’
It also bugs me because MObama has said, more than once, and really. f–king. clearly, that she is not interested in running and will not be running and she was happy to get her life back.
I don’t think people (often white women, in my personal experience) realize how it comes across when Michelle Obama has said that she is not interested but they persist in stating that they want her to run. It’s not her job to fix this nation. She is an autonomous person who seems to know what she wants for herself and she has a right to have that respected. 8 damn years wasn’t enough?!
I’m not surprised that she was lied to. I bet it was Dana Brunetti. That guy is an actual lizard.
He’s the worst. But Robin’s agents are Kevin Huvane and Hylda Queally. They’re much higher than creeper Dana Brunetti in the Hollywood food chain, so I’m not surprised Robin found out the lie. CAA is so powerful that I bet this wont end good.
To be honest I got to HOC because of both of them. I didn’t measure their time on screen. All I know is that both of them made the show in their unique ways therefore they deserve equal pay for their acting.
I love house of cards and she is absolutely riveting on screen. I can’t take my eyes off of her!!!