In the two-plus years since American Hustle’s release, the film has remained a hot topic, but it has nothing to do with the film itself. Instead, it’s all about the pay gap between the male stars and female stars of the movie, and Amy Adams has thrown her voice into the discussion.
This all started back in October 2015 when Jennifer Lawrence, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film, wrote an essay about how she felt when she learned that she was paid significantly less than Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper, thanks to the Sony hack. “I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early,” Lawrence wrote.
In a new interview with British GQ, Adams, who was nominated for Best Actress, admitted that she knew she was making less than her male co-stars and explained why she didn’t talk about it before.
“I didn’t speak about it before and I’m probably not going to speak about it forever, because I disagreed with...not Jennifer per se, but people who had opinions on how women should go about negotiating,” the Man of Steel actress explained.
She continued, “The truth is we hire people to negotiate on our behalf, men and women... I knew I was being paid less and I still agreed to do it because the option comes down to do it or don’t do it. So you just have to decide if it’s worth it for you. It doesn’t mean I liked it.”
Adams did praise Lawrence for speaking out, though, and said she was “really proud” of her.
Elsewhere in the interview, Adams did admit that Hustle director David O. Russell did make her cry while shooting the movie. It was her second movie with the director, since they made The Fighter together. But it doesn’t sound like she will work with him again any time soon.
“...I also don’t like to see other people treated badly. It’s not ok with me,” Adams said. “Life to me is more important than movies. It really taught me how to separate work and home. Because I was like, I cannot bring this experience home with me to my daughter.”
Adams is a five-time Oscar nominee and will be seen next in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on March 25.