--- description: Carrie Preston stars in NBC’s new comedy 'Crowded,' but she says that on previous shows, she's suffered from pay inequality. title: Carrie Preston Says She Was Paid Less Than Her Male Costars—Twice image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcaf2489f5187c239/69888ec00a4a22c6439c9345/carrie-preston-unequal-pay.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Carrie Preston Says She Was Paid Less Than Her Male Costars—Twice by [Maggie Parker](/author/maggie-parker/) ## Maggie Parker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 12, 2016 6:55 PM CUT  Carrie Preston arrives at the Ninth Annual Women In Film pre-Oscar Cocktail Party held at HYDE Sunset: Kitchen + Cocktails on February 26, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. Carrie Preston arrives at the Ninth Annual Women In Film pre-Oscar Cocktail Party held at HYDE Sunset: Kitchen + Cocktails on February 26, 2016 in West Hollywood, California.Michael Tran—Getty Images by [Maggie Parker](/author/maggie-parker/) ## Maggie Parker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 12, 2016 6:55 PM CUT Many [celebrities have spoken out about pay discrimination in Hollywood](http://motto.time.com/4289810/equal-pay-quotes/ "undefined"), and Carrie Preston, star of NBC’s new comedy _Crowded_, now joins their ranks. “I was on a TV show and found out in the final season that I had been making a good deal less than a male actor who had a comparable size role as me,” Preston told Motto. “So for my next TV deal, I requested equal pay. I was told I got it, only to find out my male costar still got extra perks that I didn’t.” Preston declined to say which shows paid her less. Preston said that there isn’t much an actress can do if she finds out about pay inequality after signing a contract. “Unfortunately, actors’ salaries get set before work commences, even before the final audition in a lot of cases,” she said. “If it is a series, we sign a five- to seven-year deal. Those get renegotiated down the line if the show is a hit, but otherwise we have to be content with the initial deal. It is very hard to fight it.” _Watch some of the world’s most successful women share the best advice they’ve ever gotten:_ **_Read more:_** [_Geena Davis on Inequality in Hollywood: ‘It’s a Big Relief Not to Pretend’_](http://time.com/4077177/geena-davis-women-in-hollywood/ "undefined") The fact that people so rarely share their salaries doesn’t help. “It’s hard to know the truth,” she said. “I think transparency is the only way. … Many people would not like it, but it would help force employers to be more fair.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4290582/carrie-preston-unequal-pay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4290582/carrie-preston-unequal-pay/"},"headline":"Carrie Preston Says She Was Paid Less Than Her Male Costars—Twice","datePublished":"2016-04-12T18:55:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:13.787Z","description":"She says she found out in the final season of a show that she'd been paid unfairly","url":"https://time.com/4290582/carrie-preston-unequal-pay/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcaf2489f5187c239/69888ec00a4a22c6439c9345/carrie-preston-unequal-pay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maggie Parker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcaf2489f5187c239/69888ec00a4a22c6439c9345/carrie-preston-unequal-pay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"carrie-preston-unequal-pay","caption":"Carrie Preston arrives at the Ninth Annual Women In Film pre-Oscar Cocktail Party held at HYDE Sunset: Kitchen + Cocktails on February 26, 2016 in West Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Michael Tran—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4290582/carrie-preston-unequal-pay/","name":"Carrie Preston Says She Was Paid Less Than Her Male Costars—Twice"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Some of The World's Most Powerful Women Share Their Best Advice","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LF8Rmcmf/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-02T13:57:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LF8Rmcmf.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4290582/carrie-preston-unequal-pay/","duration":"PT1M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4290582/carrie-preston-unequal-pay/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```