Not Even Meryl Streep is Safe From the Wage Gap

In an interview with Variety in honor of the 10th anniversary of The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep said that she was disappointed by the initial salary offer she received. “The offer was to my mind slightly, if not insulting, not perhaps reflective of my actual value to the project,” she said.

Streep, who said that she had avoided salary negotiation throughout her career, had decided at 55 that enough was enough. “There was my ‘goodbye moment,’ and then they doubled the offer,” she said. “I had just learned, at a very late date, how to deal on my own behalf.”

Variety reports that having Meryl Streep on board with the film led to Fox greenlighting the concept, which was never expected to make much. It ended up grossing over $300 million worldwide. The film would end up being Streep’s first blockbuster, which led to others like Mamma Mia! and solidified her role as a force at the box office.