Kirsten Dunst says ‘Spider-Man’ pay disparity was ‘extreme, men paid more’
With great power comes great responsibility — and a great big paycheck, unless you’re a woman!
Kirsten Dunst is speaking out about salary discrepancies on the set of “Spider-Man,” claiming co-star Tobey Maguire was paid more money than she was for the 2002 comic book blockbuster.
The 39-year-old actress made the assertion to The Independent, stating: “The pay disparity between me and Spider-Man was very extreme. I didn’t even think about it. But you know who was on the cover of the second Spider-Man poster? Spider-Man and ME.”
Dunst didn’t divulge how much she was paid to play love interest Mary-Jane Watson in the superhero flick, which grossed $821 million at the box office.
However, it’s been reported that Maguire was paid $4 million for portraying Peter Parker in the movie. He then negotiated a salary of $17.5 million for the 2004 sequel, “Spider-Man 2.”
It’s unclear whether Dunst also received a big bump for the second film. Both she and Maguire reprised their roles for a third film, “Spider-Man 3,” which was released in 2007.
It’s not the first time Dunst has brought up the pay disparity on the “Spider-Man” movies.
Back in 2017, she said her Spidey senses were tingling about Maguire being paid more, but she didn’t probe the issue seriously.
“Because I was young, I thought, ‘Oh wow, I’m getting paid a lot of money for the ‘Spider-Man’ movies,” she stated. “But definitely the men were getting paid more.”
But the pay discrepancy wouldn’t stop Dunst from reviving her role in a theoretical reboot. “I would do it. Why not? That would be fun,” the actress told Variety last week when asked whether she’d consider playing Mary-Jane in another movie.
“I would never say no to something like that,” Dunst added, before joking: “I’d be old MJ at this point with little Spidey babies.”
Dunst herself is also now a mom, sharing two young children with partner Jesse Plemons, 33.
The pair’s oldest son, Ennis Howard, was born in 2018, while their second boy James Robert, arrived back in May.
Meanwhile, Dunst’s newest film, “The Power of the Dog,” directed by Jane Campion, has been widely tipped to earn Dunst her first Oscar nomination. The drama will be released on Netflix next month.
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