It’s hard to debate the idea that women and men should be paid differently based on their gender. However, that situation has been prevalent in Hollywood for decades. But thanks to Time’s Up and similar movements, it’s becoming less and less common and accepted. And according to Sophie Turner, one of the many women in the massive ensemble cast of “Game of Thrones,” she’s already been seeing an impact on set.
“Now, you see women in the camera departments, producing, directing. It’s exciting,” says the ‘Thrones’ actress, in a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar.
However, when it comes to the equal-pay issue, things aren’t as simple for Turner. Last year, it was big news when it was revealed that “The Crown” co-stars Matt Smith and Claire Foy were getting unequal pay, when it was clear that Foy was the star of the series. That issue spawned numerous discussions of equal pay on TV series, particularly ensembles. HBO, the network that has “Game of Thrones,” publicly made a declaration that equal pay would be made a necessity on the series it releases.
READ MORE: HBO Announces Feature-Length ‘Game Of Thrones’ Documentary To Air A Week After The Finale
But with “Game of Thrones,” Turner admits that at least one of her male cast members got more money than her, and she’s okay with it. She said that demanding equal pay is “a little tricky. Kit [Harington] got more money than me, but he had a bigger storyline. And for the last series, he had something crazy like 70 night shoots, and I didn’t have that many. I was like, ‘You know what… you keep that money.'”
She doesn’t discount the entirety of the equal-pay/Time’s Up discussion, however. Turner praises the movements and says executives are “more willing to listen to people saying, ‘I want the same amount of money.’ So things are getting done, but it will take a while, I think…”
Turner goes on to explain how the Time’s Up/#MeToo movements have affected her and how she’s lucky she never had a “Weinstein case.”
The actress explains, “I’ve had moments where I’ve thought in hindsight, ‘That was not an OK thing for someone to do,’ but I’ve never had anything as extreme as these awful Weinstein cases. Almost half the people you meet in the industry have some sort of tale to tell. We’d talk about it before, but no one was saying, ‘This is weird, someone should speak up.’ People had this idea about Hollywood that it’s big and glamorous and crazy things happen and, ‘That’s showbiz, baby.’ Until suddenly people started looking at it from a more humane point of view and saying, ‘It’s not OK. It’s abuse’.”
The ramifications of these discussions, and the outing of misconduct from Hollywood figures, is something she loves to see.
“I think everyone’s a bit terrified. Old men… whoever’s committing these awful crimes. It’s not just being publicly shamed, it’s proper consequences. It’s losing your jobs and going to court. It’s great that these things have happened,” she concludes.
The final season of “Game of Thrones” begins on HBO on April 14.
