--- title: Ava DuVernay and Hilary Swank Discuss Hollywood's Pay Gap description: In Wednesday's episode of Chelsea, Handler sits down with Ava DuVernay and Hilary Swank, among other notable women canonical: https://time.com/4536533/ava-duvernay-hilary-swank-chelsea/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-19T17:19:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:37.797Z og:title: Ava DuVernay and Hilary Swank Discuss Hollywood's Pay Gap og:description: Swank was famously paid $3,000 for her Oscar-winning role in 'Boys Don’t Cry' og:url: https://time.com/4536533/ava-duvernay-hilary-swank-chelsea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1930cdf0ed30c7fe/6988aa91656a3f98aebcd826/ava-duvernay-chelsea-handler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 54th New York Film Festival - Opening Night Gala Presentation And "13th" World Premiere - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ava DuVernay and Hilary Swank Discuss Hollywood's Pay Gap twitter:description: Swank was famously paid $3,000 for her Oscar-winning role in 'Boys Don’t Cry' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1930cdf0ed30c7fe/6988aa91656a3f98aebcd826/ava-duvernay-chelsea-handler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ava DuVernay and Hilary Swank Discuss Hollywood's Pay Gap > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Oct 19, 2016 5:19 PM UTC  Director Ava DuVernay attends the 54th New York Film Festival opening night gala presentation and "13th" world premiere at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on September 30, 2016 in New York City. Director Ava DuVernay attends the 54th New York Film Festival opening night gala presentation and "13th" world premiere at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on September 30, 2016 in New York City. Dimitrios Kambouris—WireImage/Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Oct 19, 2016 5:19 PM UTC Wednesday’s episode of Chelsea Handler’s Netflix show, _Chelsea,_ features a star-studded dinner party where Handler sits down with Ava DuVernay and Hilary Swank, among other notable women. In a [clip provided by CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/18/entertainment/chelsea-handler-women-hollywood-dinner-party/index.html), they dive into the massive pay gap in Hollywood, revealing personal experiences with inequality. DuVernay begins by talking about _Selma_, which she says was a “big jump” for her because of how high the film’s budget was. “I was the seventh director they asked. All the men before me said no,” she said. She went to tell a fellow director about her news, and he admitted that he was also given a high-budget film—_Jurassic World._ Hilary Swank was also candid about her salary struggles. “When I did _Boys Don’t Cry,_ I was 24 years old, I made $3,000\. In order to have health insurance, you have to make $5,000,” she told the table. “I had an Academy Award, no health insurance.” “A couple movies later, I get offered a movie, but the male hadn’t had any kind of critical success,” she said. “He had been in a movie where he was ‘hot.’ And he got offered $10 million, and I got offered $500,000.” The table of women were in awe: “This was after two Academy Awards,” Handler clarifies. “Yes. So, I said no, and then they went and found a newcomer who did it for $50,000,” Swank says. “So they made a savings of $450,000 to put, you know… Probably to give the guy his bonuses.” Handler’s dinner party isn’t the first time famous women have come together to express their frustration with unequal pay and the gender pay gap, which affects women outside of Hollywood too. On Equal Pay Day in April, stars like Patricia Arquette, Connie Britton and Hope Solo [spoke out about pay](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/12/patricia-arquette-equal-pay-day-breaking-point). [Kristen Bell](http://motto.time.com/4494911/kristen-bell-pinksourcing-wage-gap/), [Jennifer Lawrence](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/13/jennifer-lawrence-lenny-letter-essay-sexism) and [Evan Rachel Wood](http://motto.time.com/4393742/evan-rachel-wood-wage-gap-hollywood-sexuality/) have also been candid about sexism on set and their smaller paychecks compared to male stars. 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