New details have emerged about the staggering pay disparity on the reshoot of Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, revealing that Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5million for the additional work after his representatives declared that he never works for free – while his co-star Michelle Williams was offered less than $1,000 for her troubles.
As TMZ first reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, when Kevin Spacey dropped out of the project after being accused by multiple men of sexual abuse, a producer on the film approached Williams, asking her to travel back to Rome in late November to reshoot some scenes.
Williams answered the call and agreed to be compensated at the minimum SAG-AFTRA rate of $80 per day, earning her a total of $800 for the 10-day reshoot.
Around the same time, Scott flew to London to meet with Wahlberg about doing the reshoot. According to TMZ’s report, the Transformers alum also agreed to redo the scenes with Williams and Spacey’s replacement, Christopher Plummer, but he and Scott did not discuss his compensation at the time.
Allegedly unbeknownst to Scott, Wahlberg’s representatives later met with the two main financial backers of the project and demanded that their client be paid for the extra work.
Pay gap debacle: Michelle Williams was paid around $800 to reshoot scene for All The Money In The World, reportedly unaware that her co-star Mark Wahlberg (above) had negotiated a $1.5million side deal
The celebrity gossip site’s sources bluntly said that Wahlberg’s agents had the film’s producers ‘over a barrel’ and they had no choice but to pay up in order to complete the film.
When Ridley Scott said in an interview with USA Today in December that he and his cast – excluding Plummer who was paid – were working for free to reshoot the movie in the wake of the Spacey debacle, he was unaware of Wahlberg’s side deal, and was reportedly left feeling betrayed and ‘hung out to dry.’
Williams and Wahlberg are both represented by Williams Morris Endeavour, and some critics have accused the talent agency of failing to inform the Oscar-nominated actress of her co-start’s lucrative arrangement.
But according to TMZ sources, the glaring disparity in Williams and Wahlberg’s payouts came down to their individual contracts: Williams’ contract reportedly required her to do reshoots, as needed, as part of her overall salary, whereas Wahlberg’s did not have such a clause.
One person familiar with contract negotiations explained that it is not a common practice for agents within the same company to discuss or coordinate their clients’ salaries, and doing so would be in violation of their duty of confidentiality.
The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which represents both Williams and Wahlberg, said it is looking into the pay disparity on Scott’s latest project, which was released on schedule on Christmas Day thanks to the $10million reshoot.
‘We are unambiguously in favor of pay equity between men and women in this industry and support every action to move in this direction. At the same time, performers at this level negotiate their above-scale rates through their agents,’ said a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson.
Despite being the film’s top-billed star and receiving her fifth Golden Globe nomination for her work in the movie, Williams just $80 per day, according to fellow A-lister Jessica Chastain.
This means that the single mother traveled to Italy over Thanksgiving for a last-second reshoot while being paid 0.05 per cent what her male co-star was making for his work.
Williams was reportedly unaware that Wahlberg was not working for free when the reshoot began, but her agents at William Morris Endeavour were well aware of his payday as they also represent both Wahlberg and Scott.
Reps for Williams, Wahlberg, Scott, WME and the production company which funded the reshoot did not respond to requests for comment.
Unreal: It is now being reported that Wahlberg was paid $1.5million for the 10-day shoot while Williams made just $80-a-day according to Jessica Chastain (tweet above)
Pay grade: That would add up to $800 at the end of the 10-day shoot, which is 0.05 % the salary her co-star made for his work on the film (Williams and Christopher Plummer in a scene that was reshot in November)
Women and Hollywood founder Melissa Silverstein was the first to point out the reported pay gap on Monday, tweeting: ‘On the day after display of female power at the #goldenglobes , I learned that there was an egregious pay gap between Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg for the All the Money in the World reshoot. Did they think this wouldn’t come out? Unacceptable #TimesUp.’
She later stated that her source is ‘100 percent reliable.’
Williams said in multiple interviews while promoting the film that she had agreed to work for free on the reshoot, claiming she felt invigorated to be taking a pro-active stance in the wake of the Spacey allegations while helping Scott save the film.
She also made a point of stressing the fact that giving up her holiday and working without pay were both sacrifices she was happy to make given the situation.
Scott himself seemed to be under the impression that the two stars were not being paid based on interviews he has given over the past four weeks, saying that he, Williams and Wahlberg all took no salary.
‘Everyone did it for nothing,’ he told USA Today. ‘Christopher had to get paid. But Michelle, no. Me, no. I wouldn’t do that…’
The $80 Williams took home daily represents the minimum amount a SAG/AFTRA actor must be paid for a day of work in Italy.
Plummer, who was brought in to replace Spacey, and the crew of the film were all fully compensated for their work on the reshoot.
Before: Kevin Spacey as J Paul Getty in the original All the Money in the World shoot (above)
After: Plummer (above) was called in to replace Spacey i November, having always been Scott’s first choice in the role
Power: Top row from left: Tarana Burke Michelle Williams, America Ferrera, Jessica Chastain, Amy Poehler, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington; Bottom row from left: Natalie Portman, Ai-jen Poo, and Saru Jayaraman
Williams, meanwhile, could be looking at her fifth Academy Award nod for her work in the film when the honorees are announced next week.
She lost out at the Golden Globes on Sunday to Frances McDormand, but proved to be the perfect date for her guest, #MeToo creator Tarana Burke.
Williams said she brought Burke as her date so she could listen to her talk.
‘I’m so much more interested in what you have to say than what I have to say,’ Williams told reporters about her date on the red carpet.
Burke, an activist from Harlem, launched the #MeToo movement a decade ago to aid underprivileged women of color affected by sexual abuse.
A young girl she bonded with during a youth camp hosted by Just Be Inc – a nonprofit Burke founded – revealed that her mother’s boyfriend had been abusing her.
That’s when Burke decided to take action by helping the communities where rape crisis centers and sexual assault workers were not present, and ‘Me Too’ was born.
Burke said the solidarity and the support behind Time’s Up and #MeToo is something we’ve never seen before and that she’s grateful to the actresses sharing their platforms to turn the spotlight back on survivors rather than perpetrators.
When asked about working with Plummer in the film after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct, Williams says she was ‘not talking about that’.