Susan Sarandon revealed in a recent interview with BBC Radio 5 Live that Paul Newman once gave up part of his salary to her on a film they worked on together, ensuring Sarandon would receive equal pay to her male co-stars.
When Sarandon learned that her male co-stars were making the same amount for the film, and that her pay was less, Newman came forward to offer up the difference out of his own cut.
“He stepped forward and said, ‘Well, I’ll give you part of mine,'” Sarandon said of the late Oscar-winning actor’s decision to forfeit some of his salary. “He was a gem.”
While Sarandon did not name the project she was working on with Newman at the time, it was likely 1998’s Twilight.
During the interview, Sarandon, an Oscar winner herself, also noted the most recent push for diversity in Hollywood. “It makes everything more interesting to raise the stakes all around and to have a more diverse cast and have other points of view,” she said. “It makes it that much more interesting. I think anybody with half a brain understands that.”
