Robin Wright: Netflix Refused to Pay Me the Same as Kevin Spacey for ‘House of Cards’ Because I ‘Didn’t Win an Academy Award’

Robin Wright is detailing really Netflix did her incorrect arsenic an character for “House of Cards.” Wright co-starred alongside Kevin Spacey successful nan deed 2013 series; she later took complete arsenic nan lead prima aft Spacey was fired amid maltreatment allegations earlier Season 6. “House of Cards” concluded successful 2018.

Wright told Variety during nan Monte-Carlo Television Festival that she had to conflict to get paid nan aforesaid arsenic Spacey. “Yes, it was difficult. I americium going to beryllium honest,” she said. “When I said, ‘I deliberation it’s only adjacent because my characteristic became arsenic celebrated arsenic [Spacey’s], they said, ‘We can’t salary you nan aforesaid arsenic an actor, truthful we will make you exec shaper and you tin direct. We will springiness you 3 different paychecks.’ I asked, ‘Why can’t you salary maine arsenic an actor?’ ‘Because you didn’t triumph an Academy Award.’”

Spacey won nan Academy Award for “The Usual Suspects” successful 1995 and besides “American Beauty” successful 2000.

Wright continued of her erstwhile co-star and nan then-policy astatine Netflix, “That has been nan protocol for years — it conscionable is. If you say, ‘Why did so-and-so female not get nan aforesaid magnitude arsenic Will Smith?’ They say, ‘It will summation aft you win.’ Nomination, not truthful much. Why does it person to do thing pinch a raise?”

Wright antecedently told Marie Claire that she had to “capitalize” connected her character’s fandom to discuss a raise. “I was like, ‘I want to beryllium paid nan aforesaid as Kevin.’ It was nan cleanable paradigm,” she said. “There are very fewer films aliases TV shows wherever nan male, nan patriarch, and nan matriarch are equal, and they are successful ‘House of Cards.’ I was looking astatine nan statistic and Claire Underwood’s characteristic was much celebrated than [Frank’s] for a play of time. So I capitalized connected it. I was like, ‘You amended salary maine aliases I’m going to spell public.’ And they did.”

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings admitted that he doubted Ted Sarandos’ imagination for “House of Cards.” Hastings recalled to Variety that Sarandos told head David Fincher that Netflix would perpetrate to spending $100 million connected nan bid and greenlight it for 2 seasons earlier a aviator had moreover been shot. Fincher besides would person afloat imaginative power of nan show, pinch Netflix refraining from giving immoderate notes.