Daniel Radcliffe Comments On The Pay Gap Issue And Endears Women The World Over To Him Even More


If women didn’t adore Daniel Radcliffe enough as it is, there’s even more of a reason to be won over by the Harry Potter star. The actor has spoken about the prominent subject that has been remarked on by many notable female actors as of late — that being the gender pay gap issue — and has reminded us that there are male actors out there who also see the vast difference between how each sex is compensated as being nothing short of ridiculous.

Radcliffe admits that he was of the understanding that this sort of sexism did not exist anymore, so he shared recently that when he was made aware that inequality of men and women still existed in the form of compensation in the world of entertainment, he was surprised and baffled.

Bustle notes the words of Daniel on the subject.

“It is nuts to me. I’m incredibly glad it [gender equality] has come up because I had just f*king naively thought this was not an issue any more because how can this still be happening? It’s crazy. It is definitely the time for our industry to step up. Especially if we want to pride ourselves on being a liberal, progressive industry then you can’t be doing that.”

It’s clear that by many of the women, such as Jennifer Lawrence, coming forward to shed light on the reality of the situation in Hollywood, actors such as Radcliffe are being enlightened to the disconnect that is still present in the industry. Had Lawrence not penned her essay via Lena Dunham’s platform, and women such as Radcliffe’s own former costar, Emma Watson, not spoken up, ignorance on the issue would have continued.

It was when Lawrence was made aware of the huge pay gap between her and cast members of the hit film American Hustle that true talk on the subject began. Radcliffe comments on the shocking nature of the discovery.

“What I found shocking about the whole American Hustle thing. And please correct me if I’m wrong — but if I have this right, they had all the boys on one deal and all the girls on another deal. That, to me, is shocking … stuff like that is crazy and the thing I can’t help but think is, ‘Who? Who’s doing that? What guy is sitting in a studio somewhere thinking let’s f*ck the girls out of some money?’ It’s very cool [that more women are taking the lead in films] and I feel like there’s such a wealth of amazing actresses in the world right now and we’ve got to start writing better parts for them and paying them equally.”

As noted, Radcliffe’s former costar in the beloved Harry Potter films, Emma Watson, has become a fervent advocate for women’s rights and has even been linked to the United Nations where she spearheaded the #HeForShe Campaign in 2014. USA Today reminded just how inspiring Watson has been over the past year.

During her speech at the United Nations in New York City, Watson spoke eloquently about how the playing field must be leveled sooner rather than later in regard to the issue of pay.

“Because the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work.”

Although the speech brought Watson criticism and unwelcome reactions, even in the form of threats, she also gained a following of supporters. Clearly, although not all men are ready to support women in their fight for equality, Daniel Radcliffe has spoken and proven that there is a following of men who side with the cause. As Radcliffe stated, this really should not be a “thing” anymore.

[Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival]

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