No Oscar, No Money? ‘House of Cards’ Star Gets Brutally Honest on Equal Pay

Robin Wright had a House of Cards throwback at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival, and it wasn’t a very pleasant one — turns out, the actress had to fight for equal pay because she didn’t have an Academy Award, even though her character Claire Underwood was just as popular as her co-star Kevin Spacey’s.

“When I said, ‘I think it’s only fair because my character became as popular as [Spacey’s], they said: ‘We can’t pay you the same as an actor, so we will make you exec producer and you can direct. We will give you three different paychecks.’ I asked, ‘Why can’t you pay me as an actor?’ ‘Because you didn’t win an Academy Award,’” the actress recalled (via Variety).

The most bitter part was that being angry about the issue “wasn’t going to change anything.” According to Wright, this was the protocol — if one ever asked “why did so-and-so female not get the same amount as Will Smith?”, they would receive a brutal “It will increase after you win.’ Nomination, not so much” in response.

Kevin Spacey received two Oscars throughout his career: the award for Best Supporting Actor in The Usual Suspects and for Best Actor in American Beauty.

Robin Wright Has Plenty of Awards (But They Were Still Not Enough)

House of Cards received many accolades, including 33 Primetime Emmy Award nominations (among them — nominations for both Spacey and Wright).

Besides, the show earned eight Golden Globe Award nominations, and in 2014, Wright won the award for Best Actress in Television Series Drama, with Spacey following in 2015 with his victory for Best Actor.

“Robin Wright is in my opinion underrated, she is not of Oscar caliber, but she comes close. Yes Forrest Gump, in its feel good movie form, is a real drama, of the caliber of the Green Mile. Concerning Claire, the character is complex, because we go from a brilliant woman, who accompanies her husband to the White House to an unstable personality, who destroys everything her husband has done, her own work, because she was not cut out for it,” said Redditor darklinux1977.

Other fans agree.

“I think she’s a great actress and I think the show doesn’t work without her as Claire. I remember Fincher describing Claire as “a marble statue” and she fits that so perfectly. She’s cold and unfeeling, yet beautiful and strong. She plays off of Frank so well that their relationship carries the series the whole time,” added Redditor SwagBoyGenius.

‘House of Cards’ Finale: What Went Wrong

Many people argued that House of Cards jumped the shark in the finale, but it wasn’t Wright’s fault as an actress.

“The last seasons of HoC were kinda messy, but that wasn’t her fault since they were probably scrambling to figure out how to play it after Spacey’s accusers came forward. Her performance in the first few seasons were spectacular though,” said another Redditor.

However, Wright did mention that the controversial ending was her idea.

“That was my idea, so… Sorry. Initially, I said: ‘Let him kill her.’”

The actress also said that getting to direct the show was “a gift”, and she “didn’t feel any pressure” and learned a lot.