--- description: “It’s not fair,” says the star of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo title: Rooney Mara Steps Into Hollywood Gender Pay Equity Debate image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc8ffef7e4abfa73/698868c58e06010499462e72/rooney-mara.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [wage gap](/tag/wage-gap/) ## wage gap Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rooney Mara Steps Into Hollywood Gender Pay Gap Debate ## Video: Emma Watson - He For She - Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Emma Watson - He For She - Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0clamGjK.m3u8) (0:23)  _Published 2014-09-22. Emma Watson -He For She- Speech_  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 10:26 PM CUT  Rooney Mara attends the "Carol" America Express Gala during the BFI London Film Festival in London on Oct. 14, 2015. Rooney Mara attends the "Carol" America Express Gala during the BFI London Film Festival in London on Oct. 14, 2015.John Phillips—Getty Images  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 10:26 PM CUT Oscar-nominated actress Rooney Mara [says](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/16/rooney-mara-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-frustrating-jennifer-lawrence "undefined") the gender pay gap between men and women in Hollywood is frustrating but that her concerns are dwarfed by pay equity further down the economic ladder. “I’ve been in films where I’ve found out my male co-star got paid double what I got paid, and it’s just a reality of the time that we live in,” the _Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_ star told the _Guardian_. “To me, it’s frustrating, but at the same time, I’m just grateful to be getting paid at all for what I do.” Mara joins a spate of high-profile Hollywood talent, including Jessica Chasten, Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence, to have lamented the fact that male stars tend to draw higher paying contracts than women. [**Read more:** This Chart Shows Hollywood’s Glaring Gender Gap](http://time.com/4062700/hollywood-gender-gap/ "undefined") But Mara was quick to put her glamorous profession in context. “It’s not fair, but I think about how much teachers are getting paid, or other people who are doing jobs that are so much more important than what I do, and it’s kind of hard to complain about.” The actor said what’s more troubling is being labeled a “spoiled brat” or worse for being an outspoken woman in Hollywood. “I’ve been called horrible things,” she said. “If a man was acting in the same way that I was acting, it would just be considered normal. To me, that’s the thing I find so frustrating is calling women spoiled brats and bitches. We just want to have a voice in our life, and I don’t think that’s anything that shouldn’t be encouraged in any human.” \[[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/16/rooney-mara-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-frustrating-jennifer-lawrence "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4077283/rooney-mara-steps-into-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4077283/rooney-mara-steps-into-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-debate/"},"headline":"Rooney Mara Steps Into Hollywood Gender Pay Gap Debate","datePublished":"2015-10-16T22:26:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:52:43.438Z","description":"\"It’s just a reality of the time that we live in”","url":"https://time.com/4077283/rooney-mara-steps-into-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-debate/","keywords":["wage gap","gender","Hollywood"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc8ffef7e4abfa73/698868c58e06010499462e72/rooney-mara.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc8ffef7e4abfa73/698868c58e06010499462e72/rooney-mara.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Carol\" - America Express Gala - BFI London Film Festival","caption":"LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14: Rooney Mara attends the \"Carol\" America Express Gala during the BFI London Film Festival, at the Odeon Leicester Square on October 14, 2015 in London, England. 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