Producer Told Sienna Miller to ‘Fuck Off’ After She Asked to Be Paid the Same As Male Costar

“I said to the producer, who was extremely powerful, it’s not about money—it’s about fairness and respect," Miller said. That didn't go well, apparently.

By Audra Heinrichs | November 3, 2022 | 4:30pm

Celebrities

Producer Told Sienna Miller to ‘Fuck Off’ After She Asked to Be Paid the Same As Male Costar

Another day, another stark reminder that even wealthy white women in Hollywood aren’t being fairly compensated for their labor compared to men.

In a new interview with British Vogue, Sienna Miller, revealed that she was told by an “extremely powerful” producer to “fuck off” when she asked to be paid the same amount of a male counterpart in a New York City play. “I said to the producer, who was extremely powerful, it’s not about money — it’s about fairness and respect, thinking they’d come back and say, ‘Of course, of course.’ But they didn’t,” the English actress told the magazine. “They just said, ‘Well f–k off then.’”

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Like most women who dare ask for more money in their respective workplaces, Miller recalled feeling “terrible” about herself and “embarrassed” for initiating the conversation at all. Even now, she admitted she didn’t “want to be mean” and out the man who refused her a fair salary. Personally, I’m of the mind she should go for it, given her enviable circumstances—wealth, fame and a platform—but I get it. Miller has only starred in two New York City productions, Cabaret in 2014 and After Miss Julie in 2009, so do with that information what you will.

Miller called it a “pivotal moment” in her career that led to an epiphany that she “had every right to be equally subsidized for the work that I would have done.”

This isn’t the first project in which Miller wasn’t adequately paid, though. In 2020, it was reported that when she signed onto 21 Bridges, the 2019 film that paired her with the late Chadwick Boseman, she quickly noted the substantial pay disparity—an undisclosed but reportedly sizable amount—between them. And instead of simply matching Miller’s request, it was Boseman who offered to took a pay cut to boost her salary. Sigh. What a man.

Miller is just one in a string of famous actresses to call out the Hollywood pay gap; Bryce Dallas Howard—a nepotism baby, no less—admitted she was paid “much less” than Chris Pratt for Jurassic World; Amy Adams made over a million less than both Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper on American Hustle; Matt Smith took home more than Claire Foy despite, her portraying Queen Elizabeth during the first two seasons of The Crown; and Florence Pugh’s Don’t Worry Darling salary remains unspecified, though it was rumored that Harry Styles was paid a lot more despite only having ever acted in one film.

It’s bleak that the players in Hollywood most able to tell a talented woman to “fuck off” tend to be the ones most deserving of that sentiment, themselves.