American-British actress, Sienna Mille in a remembrance for the late Chadwick Boseman, has revealed the actor took a pay cut to increase her salary on ’21 Bridges’
In a new interview with Empire, Sienna opened up about working with the actor in the 2019 cop drama “21 Bridges” and how Boseman wanted her to be in the movie which he was also a producer.
“He produced ’21 Bridges’ and had been really active in trying to get me to do it,” she said. “He was a fan of my work, which was thrilling, because it was reciprocated from me to him, tenfold.”
She continued, “So he approached me to do it, he offered me this film, and it was at a time when I really didn’t want to work anymore. I’d been working non-stop and I was exhausted, but then I wanted to work with him.”
Miller also revealed that Boseman took a pay cut on the film to increase her salary.
“I didn’t know whether or not to tell this story, and I haven’t yet. But I am going to tell it, because I think it’s a testament to who he was,” she said.
“This was a pretty big-budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn’t get to. And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, ‘I’ll do it if I’m compensated in the right way.’”
“And Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for. He said that that was what I deserved to be paid. It was about the most astounding thing that I’ve experienced. That kind of thing just doesn’t happen. He said, ‘You’re getting paid what you deserve, and what you’re worth.’”
Miller added, “It’s just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully. In the aftermath of this I’ve told other male actor friends of mine that story and they all go very very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while. But there was no showiness, it was, ‘Of course, I’ll get you to that number because that’s what you should be paid.’”
Chadwick Boseman, best known for his role in Marvel film, Black Panther died last month after a private four-year battle with colon cancer.
