Octavia Spencer revisits Hollywood pay disparity in candid conversation with Keke Palmer
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Octavia Spencer discusses Hollywood pay disparity with Keke Palmer, revisiting how Jessica Chastain helped her secure equal compensation and why backend deals matter.
Octavia Spencer is putting Hollywood’s pay gap back in the spotlight, telling Keke Palmer that her experience with salary negotiations showed her just how sharply compensation can differ for Black actresses.
During a conversation featured on Palmer’s podcast, Spencer recalled the moment she discussed her pay history with Jessica Chastain, her former The Help co-star. The discussion came as Chastain was developing a Christmas movie that the two actresses were expected to make together.
Spencer said she agreed to the project but made her position clear, “You got to pay me.”
She then described explaining her previous salaries to Chastain, who, according to Spencer, was stunned by the figures. Spencer recalled Chastain responding, “Oh, my God!”
The conversation was not simply about a difference between two actresses. Spencer said it exposed a wider pattern she had experienced in Hollywood.
“People always say, of course [I’ll pay you],” Spencer told Palmer. “And then…when they go to white actors, they have dollars, and by the time they get to the Black actors, they have cents.”
The story has been publicly documented before. In 2018, Spencer said Chastain agreed to tie their compensation together through a “favored nations” arrangement, meaning they would receive the same deal. Spencer subsequently said the arrangement resulted in her making five times what she had initially sought.
Chastain later confirmed that learning Spencer’s rate had changed her understanding of the problem. “I had no idea that’s what it was like for women of color,” Chastain said in an interview reported by ABC News.
Spencer also used her conversation with Palmer to explain how she approaches projects that offer modest upfront salaries. She pointed to backend participation, where performers can negotiate a share of a production’s financial success, as another part of compensation.
“If it’s my labor of love, I’ll do it for a dime,” Spencer said. “I’m not doing your labor of love for a dime.”
She said producers who claim a project has a limited budget should be prepared to discuss backend compensation if they want her involved.
For Palmer, the discussion also highlighted how difficult pay inequality can be to recognize without access to other performers’ numbers. “It’s hard sometimes to know what you’re missing,” Palmer said.
Their exchange underscores a longstanding issue in Hollywood where performers can only negotiate effectively when they have enough information to understand the value of their work and the terms being offered to others.