Not only is Jessica Chastain a fine actress, but now we know that she's also a good friend and a woman who stands by her word.
Chastain has long campaigned for and spoken about the need to close the wage gap, but a story that Octavia Spencer told during a panel at Sundance yesterday proved that it's not just idle chat.
The 'Women Breaking Barriers' panel saw Spencer recount a story about Chastain approaching her to work on a comedy - which has yet to be released - 15 months ago. The pair previously starred in 'The Help' together.
She continued that down the line, they were talking about pay equity one day and "I said, ‘But here’s the thing: women of colour on that spectrum, we make far less than white women. So, if we’re gonna have that conversation about pay equity, we gotta bring the women of colour to the table. And I told her my story, and we talked numbers, and she was quiet, and she said she had no idea that that’s what it was like for women of colour.”
Speaking emotionally, she continued: "I love that woman, because she’s walking the walk and she’s actually talking the talk. She said, ‘Octavia, we’re gonna get you paid on this film.
"She said, 'You and I are gonna be tied together. We’re gonna be favoured nations, and we’re gonna make the same thing, you are going to make that amount.’ Fast-forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for.”
Watch Spencer's story about Chastain from the 19:30 mark below:
