Keeley Hawes insisted on equal pay for her role in ‘Bodyguard’.
The 42-year-old actress will play home secretary character Julia Montague, who tries to deal with a deadly terrorist attack, in the new BBC drama, and ‘The Durrells’ star demanded she be paid the same as her colleague Richard Madden, who is playing her alter-ego’s protection officer David Budd.
She said: "Certainly, five years ago, I wouldn’t have felt like I was in a position to say, ‘I want the same as my male counterpart’.
"Because I would have been worried about losing the job.
"And then I would think, ‘I want to work and I want to pay my mortgage’.
"But now, I do think businesses and corporations that we work for seem to be taking it very seriously
"So yeah, it’s not so much of a fight, anymore. It really does feel like there’s been a real sea change here. It feels different. And I feel more empowered when I go into a project."
And Keeley has called for other actresses to do the same by asking for equal pay if they believe they are playing similar roles to their male colleagues.
She added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: "If it’s something like ‘Bodyguard’ and there are two of us, and you’re discussing your contract, just say ‘We want parity.’
"And more often than not, the actor will also say, ‘Yes, we’re doing the same amount of work. The same process, pay us the same.’
"And personally, that’s how I go about it now and I feel empowered to do that because of brilliant people that spoke up from the beginning and people who have made a stand."
In March, Keeley revealed she has previously been the victim of "inappropriate behaviour" at work from a man in power.
She said: "I don’t really want to go into it, but something happened to me – not on set but it was something to do with my work… and it was inappropriate behaviour from a man in power."
Keeley Hawes demanded equal pay for Bodyguard role
