Robin Wright has revealed she was denied equal pay on the hit Netflix series House of Cards because, unlike her co-star Kevin Spacey, she had never won an Academy Award. The acclaimed actress, who starred as Claire Underwood opposite Spacey’s Frank Underwood throughout all six seasons of the political drama, opened up about her experience during an interview with Variety at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.
Despite the global success of the series — which earned eight Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award — Wright said she faced resistance when she asked to be paid the same as Spacey.
++ Nationwide “No Kings” protests reflect growing resistance to Trump administration
“When I said, ‘I think it’s only fair because my character became as popular as [Spacey’s],’ they said: ‘We can’t pay you the same as an actor, so we will make you exec producer and you can direct. We will give you three different paycheques,’” Wright, 59, recounted. “I asked, ‘Why can’t you pay me as an actor?’ [They said:] ‘Because you didn’t win an Academy Award.’”
Wright said executives told her this had been the “protocol for years”. She continued: “If you say, ‘Why did so-and-so female not get the same amount as Will Smith?’ they say, ‘It will increase after you win.’ Nomination, not so much. Why does it have to do anything with a raise?”
Spacey, who has since been ostracised from Hollywood following multiple sexual misconduct allegations, had received two Oscars during his career — Best Supporting Actor in 1996 for The Usual Suspects, and Best Actor in 2000 for American Beauty.
Wright, by contrast, has never been nominated for an Academy Award, although she has appeared in several Oscar-recognised films, including Forrest Gump (1994), Moneyball (2011), and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
Despite the pay disparity, Wright expressed gratitude towards the House of Cards production team for giving her the opportunity to step behind the camera. “It was the camera operator on House of Cards who said, ‘Why don’t you just try?’” she said. “I learned so much on that show. I didn’t feel any pressure. I was encouraged to do it.”
++ Justin Bieber shares rare baby photos amid fan concerns over online behaviour
Wright went on to direct 10 episodes of House of Cards, describing the experience as a “gift”. Since then, she has directed the 2021 survival drama Land, two episodes of Netflix’s Ozark, and an episode of the Hulu psychological thriller Tell Me Lies. Her next directorial project is The Girlfriend, a thriller for Amazon MGM Studios.
