Evan Rachel Wood Has to Wait Until ‘Westworld’ Season 3 to Get Paid Equally to Male Co-Stars
Zack Sharf
Evan Rachel Wood is arguably the face of “Westworld.” Her character, Dolores Abernathy, has one of the show’s most prominent storylines and both Wood’s narration and screen presence was heavily featured in trailers to promote the first two seasons of the show. But Wood reveals in a video interview with The Wrap that she was not paid equally to her male co-stars on “Westworld” during the show’s two seasons and she won’t be until a potential third season.
“I think I’m just now to the point where I’m getting paid the same as my male co-stars,” Wood said. “I was just told that, you know, ‘Hey you’re, you’re getting equal pay.’ And I almost got emotional. I was like, ‘I have never been paid the same as my male counterparts. Never, never.’”
When asked which season she would be getting equal pay to her male co-stars, Wood confirmed Season 3. The actress’ co-stars include Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, and Jeffrey Wright. Wood explained that she was willing to accept at first why she was getting paid less than actors like Hopkins and Harris considering their Oscar-winning pedigrees, but that’s no longer the case so many episodes into “Westworld.”
“I think now we’re all doing equal amounts of work and really hard work,” Wood said of “Westworld.” She continued by explaining how she has been making “pretty much the same amount of money on things for years.”
“I’m in like dire straits. I’m very lucky. It’s more about if you’re getting paid fairly, or the same, or if you’re getting paid less simply because you’re a woman, that’s not fair,” Wood said. “This is the first time that somebody made a point of being like, ‘Hey you’re getting this. And you deserve it.’ And that was nice.”
“Westworld” Season 2 debuts on HBO this Sunday, April 22. IndieWire has reached out to HBO for comment. Head over to The Wrap to watch Wood’s entire video interview.
