Michelle Williams’ showstopping performance as Gwen Verdon in Fosse/Verdon has earnt the 39-year-old an Emmy for lead actress, with the star using her few minutes on stage to champion women’s rights.
It was on this project that Williams herself was given equal pay for equal work after it was revealed she made less than $1000 for her All the Money in the World re-shoots compared to her co-star Mark Wahlberg who pocketed $1.5 million.
“Thank you so much to FX and Fox 21 Studios for supporting me completely and paying me equally because they understood when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value,” she told the Emmys crowd.
Check out the trailer for Fosse/Verdon. Post continues after video.
“The next time a woman, and especially a woman of colour – because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white, male counterpart – tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her,” Williams said.
“Believe her, because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing [her] to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it.”
The pay gap issue has also been an issue for other high profile actresses including Claire Foy on The Crown and Tracee Ellis Ross on Black-ish. At home in Australia our own Lisa Wilkinson left Today because of a pay gap between her and co-host Karl Stefanovic.
Williams was up against Amy Adams, Joey King, Patricia Arquette, Aunjanue Ellis and Niecy Nash for the coveted lead actress award and ended her empowering Emmy's speech with a simple, "Matilda, this is for you, like everything else," referring to her daughter with her ex, the late Heath Ledger.
It's her first Emmy award, but the popular actress has four Oscar nominations under her belt and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn in 2012.
Top Comments
With a net worth of only USD 16 million, nobody is more deserving or more in need than her. Truly moving speech, perhaps we could organise a gofundme for her to help out a bit?
Notice you didn’t mention how much Wahlberg is worth. Do you suggest he should have donated his entire salary then?
He wasn’t complaining, was he?
Preface: I believe that women and men doing the same job should receive equal recompense.
However, I feel that Michelle breathes a pretty rarefied atmosphere to be able to say;
'tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her'.
There are only a few workplaces, where a very privileged few, can tell an employer how much they need in terms of remuneration and walk away with that amount.
There was more to it than just money, she asked for things like extra dance and voice lessons and so on as well - tools she felt she needed to do her job. That's the part that translates to 'real' jobs.