Back in 2018 reports surfaced that Bryce Dallas Howard was making way less money than co-star Chris Pratt on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. While Pratt took a $10 million pay cheque home, Howard reportedly made $8 million, shedding more light on the existing gender pay gap in the industry. However, in a recent chat with Insider, Howard revealed that she found those reports “interesting” because she “was paid so much less than the reports even said, so much less,” and praised her co-star for helping to correct the situation.
Pratt and Howard signed up for the new Jurassic World trilogy back in 2014 of which the third part Jurassic World Dominion smashed the box office this year. After learning of the pay disparity, the Guardian of the Galaxy actor took it upon himself to correct the situation and made sure Howard had pay parity on other Jurassic World properties such as spin-off video games and theme park rides.
The actor revealed that when she initially negotiated for the franchise she was “at a great disadvantage” as “it was a different world.” Adding, “And, unfortunately, you have to sign up for three movies and so your deals are set.” However, she discussed the pay gap with her co-actor, and he volunteered to negotiate for the corresponding properties that come out of their trilogy. She explained
What I will say is that Chris and I have discussed it, and whenever there was an opportunity to move the needle on stuff that hadn’t been already negotiated, like a game or a ride, he literally told me, ‘You guys don’t even have to do anything. I’m gonna do all the negotiating. We’re gonna be paid the same and you don’t have to think about this, Bryce.’
In recent years, gendered pay gaps in Hollywood have become a public issue. Many female actors have come forward to bring the issue to light, in 2019 Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo revealed that she almost quit the fan-favorite show given her co-star Patrick Dempsey was being paid almost twice her pay when the show started. Same year All the Money in the World star Michelle Williams revealed that she felt “futile” after it was disclosed, her co-star Mark Wahlberg earned $1.5 million for reshoots, while she earned $1,000. However, Howard praised Pratt for correcting their situation, she said, “I love him so much for doing that. I really do, because I’ve been paid more for those kinds of things than I ever was for the movie.”
Jurassic World Dominion is available on Blu-ray and DVD on August 16. Meanwhile, check out our interview with director Colin Trevorrow below: