Eleanor Tomlinson has opened up about her role as Demelza in BBC's Poldark, and admitted that she would be "pretty upset" to discover that she was being paid less than Aiden Turner, who plays her onscreen husband, Ross Poldark. Speaking about the show to Red magazine, the 26-year-old admitted that it was "okay" that their wages were different in season one as she was an unknown name and Aiden was "a bigger star". She said: "Now, I don't think so. We're equal leads of the show, so I'd be pretty upset if the gap hadn't closed."
Eleanor opened up about gender pay gap
Speaking about her relationship with her co-star, she said: "We're great mates, although we do row. [We row about] everything - usually our characters. We're both ridiculously protective of them and squabble like an old married couple. Usually it's one of us saying that our character wouldn't behave a certain way. Aiden loves everything being his. But then he loves to wind me up." The star recently confirmed that season five of the popular drama was in the works, telling fans at a screening: "I'm looking forward to some more cliff-staring which is actually why I'm sending this video message because I can confirm that we are going to make series five of Poldark. So exciting! Thank you so much for all your support. We wouldn't have been there, we wouldn't have made this show what it's become without you guys so thank you for that."
READ: The Crown's Matt Smith finally breaks silence on pay gap controversy
The full interview appears in Red magazine
Eleanor's comments come just a few weeks after The Crown controversially revealed that Claire Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth, was paid less than her male co-star, Matt Smith. Speaking about the situation, Claire told Entertainment Weekly: "I'm not (surprised about the interest in the story) in the sense that it was a female-led drama. I'm not surprised that people saw (the story) and went, 'Oh, that's a bit odd.' I know that Matt feels the same that I do, that it's odd to find yourself at the centre (of a story) that you didn't particularly ask for." The full interview appears in the July issue of Red, on sale 30th of May. For further exclusive content, please go to www.redonline.co.uk.
READ: Claire Foy paid less than Matt Smith for The Crown, despite playing the Queen