Actors of colour want equal pay

Jessica Alba (left) and Gabrielle Union want equal treatment. Photo / AP

Female actors of colour are getting more roles and acclaim, but not commensurate money. Realising achieving change wasn't a solo act, they looked for help — and found it in each other.

Giving colleagues a peek at their pay cheques, speaking out about economic disparity and using hard-won success to boost others are among the measures slowly gaining traction in an industry where most actors are hunting for their next freelance job and women of colour face entrenched barriers.

"One of the first things we say is, 'Find out what the people around you are making'," said entertainment lawyer Nina Shaw, a founding member of Times Up, the organisation created in 2018 to fight sexual misconduct and workplace inequality. "And more and more, we're finding that people are willing to talk to each other."

Without knowledge of what other actors with a similar track record are getting for equivalent work, "you are way behind the eight ball", said Gabrielle Union (Think Like a Man, Being Mary Jane).

Changing entrenched behaviour took time, Union said. "We are so woefully underpaid, under-appreciated, disrespected."

Ana de la Reguera (Power, upcoming film Army of the Dead) saw the value of networking as part of "Latinas Who Lunch", an informal group started by Eva Longoria. Actresses, as well as writers and directors, gathered to share their experiences and career tips.

"We were actually encouraging each other to, say, shadow a director, ask to direct an episode, ask to be the executive producer," de la Reguera said.

What performers earn is difficult to verify, say researchers who track film and TV employment. Privacy concerns are one obvious reason, as are the complex deals that include compensation for acting and other work (as with HBO's Big Little Lies, which Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman starred in and produced).

But there is research that adds weight to complaints of disparity. In the latest San Diego State University analysis of TV's broadcast, cable and streaming programmes, women had 40 per cent of the speaking roles in 2017-18 despite the genders being evenly split in the population.

Further limiting opportunities for women of colour: 67 per cent of female roles went to white actors, the study found.

That exceeded the almost 61 per cent they represented among US women.

Asked if industry racism was at play, Union said there was "no other logical reason why we are paid what we are paid versus what our contemporaries are paid who are lacking melanin".

With 1997's Selena, Jennifer Lopez became the first Hispanic female actor to earn US$1 million for a movie.

"Everybody knows there is racism, there is sexism. It's just about us getting to the point of you realising what you're worth and who you are," she said.

- AP