It’s widely agreed that people of all genders and abilities should get equal pay for equal work. Lately, there’s been a huge push toward closing the pay gap in Hollywood, headed by actors of seemingly every caliber. But what about pay gaps between co-stars with different workloads, but the same project tenure? In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner said she knows Kit Harington got paid more than her, especially during filming for the upcoming eighth and final season. However, she also said she doesn’t mind the gap, for a few reasons.
In her interview, Turner said she insists on an inclusion rider in all her contracts, which allows her to insist on an even number of men and women working on set in every department. When it comes to demanding equal pay for herself, however, she said that can be “a little tricky.”
“Kit got more money than me, but he had a bigger storyline,” Turner explained, regarding their pay gap on Game of Thrones. Additionally, she noted, “And for the last series, he had something crazy like 70 night shoots, and I didn’t have that many. I was like, ‘You know what… you keep that money.'”
On the one hand, Turner has several projects in the works outside of Game of Thrones, so this comment makes sense. Plus, from what the Thrones cast have said about the night shoots for season eight, we don’t blame her for not wanting to take on more in exchange for a higher pay rate. Of course, her response to this question also makes us wonder about Sansa’s trajectory versus Jon’s in the final season and whether either of them will live to see the finale.
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Despite her feelings on her own personal pay gap with Harington, Turner told Harper’s that the important thing about the fight for equal pay is that executives who make these decisions are “more willing to listen to people saying, ‘I want the same amount of money.’ So things are getting done, but it will take a while, I think…”
Wherever Turner’s career takes her after Game of Thrones and the current X-Men franchise end, we hope she keeps fighting the good fight.
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