Hilary Swank Was Once Offered $500,000 for a Role While Her Male Costar Was Getting $10 Million

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Hilary Swank has personal experience with the gender wage gap in Hollywood.

The 42-year-old actress revealed during Wednesday's episode of Chelsea, that she was once offered substantially less than a male actor for a role in the same film.


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The two-time Oscar winner appeared on the Netflix show for a dinner party segment with host Chelsea Handler, Connie Britton, Ava DuVernay, and Miss USA Deshauna Barber discussing women empowerment through their personal stories.

"I win my second Academy Award, and the next couple of movies later, I get offered a movie, but the male [actor] hadn't had any kind of critical success but had been in a movie where he was hot," Swank recalled of being offered the role after winning an Oscar for the 2005 boxing drama, Million Dollar Baby.

"And he got offered $10 million, and I got offered $500,000," she said.

In the end, Swank turned down the role and filmmakers turned to a lesser-known actress who was willing to take an even smaller cut.

"They went and found a newcomer who did it for $50,000," Swank continued. "They made a savings of $450,000, probably to give the guy his bonuses."


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Swank's refusal to take less pay than her male counterpart doesn't seem to have hurt her career one bit. She went on to star in more than a dozen films over the last decade.

On a more personal note, Swank recently ended her engagement to former tennis pro Ruben Torres. Find out more about the split in the video below.