Robin Wright has opened up about the gender pay gap on her hit show House of Cards, and revealed that she had been incorrectly told that she would be receiving equal pay with the male lead, Kevin Spacey. Speaking about having to fight for equal pay for her role as Clare Underwood in the Netflix show, she told Net-A-Porter's The Edit magazine: "I was told that I was getting equal pay and I believed them, and I found out recently that it's not true. So that's something to investigate. Claire and Francis are equivalent as far as their power, their union and the plot."
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She added: "I may not have as many scenes or words as Francis, but Claire doesn't need to verbalise as much. Francis is an orator, a poet, a demonstrator. Claire is an (ego) that sits in the back and directs him, but they are partners on the same plane." She confirmed that she fought the studio for equal pay following the discovery.
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The star has been vocal about her struggles as a woman in the entertainment industry, and spoke about an audition where she was asked to lift her top up aged just 17. Speaking at the Kering's Woman in Motion talks at the Cannes Film Festival, she said: "I think I was 17, in Paris, and went in for a go-see thinking they were just looking at the face. They said, Lift up your top. No, I like the other one's… better'. That was probably the worst. That was during the audition. I didn't get the job." Speaking about feminism, she added: "The problem is feminism today is such a derogatory and diva-like word (but) feminism means equality, period. Equal birth, equal pay."