Mark Wahlberg claims there’s "a long way to go" before the gender pay gap is fully closed.
The 46-year-old actor became the centre of a pay gap scandal last year when he was paid $1.5 million to film reshoots for ‘All The Money In The World’, compared to the $1000 his co-star Michelle Williams was given, after the movie’s leading actor Kevin Spacey was replaced amid accusations of making sexual advances towards actor Anthony Rapp.
Mark donated his fee for the reshoots to the Time’s Up movement, and has now said that he thinks there’s still a lot of work to be done before scandals like that one are a thing of the past.
Speaking to ‘Extra’, he said: "We want to continue to make sure that everybody feels that we’re having equal opportunity and equal pay for everybody.
"If there was a discrepancy in what we were doing in making the movie, we have a long way to go. We need to work together to make sure that everybody gets an equal opportunity out there."
The ‘Deepwater Horizon’ star announced his plans to donate his reshoot fee in January this year.
He said: "Over the last few days my reshoot fee for ‘All the Money in the World’ has become an important topic of conversation. I 100 percent support the fight for fair pay and I’m donating the $1.5 million to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams’ name."
And last month, lawyer Nina Shaw – who is heavily involved in Time’s Up – confirmed that Mark had donated the funds.
She said: "Yes, Mark has written that cheque. Men often get paid more, not because they’re better actors, but they’re in stories where they drive the narrative. The reason they drive the narrative is they’re in stories that are picked by men."
Previously, Mark admitted the pay gap on ‘All the Money in the World’ was "very awkward".
He said: "It didn’t take much to make the decision [to donate the money]. It was just the right thing to do, you know? And Michelle is a fantastic actress. It’s not me who decides who gets paid what. Your value’s based on what the marketplace dictates, and with that particular situation, it was very awkward.
"It was like, you know what, we’ll donate that and they need the rest of the money that I got paid to do it too, because I, like everybody else, did the movie to make the movie with Ridley Scott. I took a substantial pay cut."
Mark Wahlberg: There’s still work to be done on the gender pay gap
