Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright are among the Westworld stars getting big pay raises ahead of the HBO series’ third season.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Westworld‘s leads are a part of the first group of the series’ actors to receive higher salaries. Along with Wright and Newton in this group are Ed Harris and Evan Rachel Wood. Each of the four actors will receive $250,000 an episode. Initially, they were receiving between $100,000 to $150,000 an episode.
The pay raises indicate that HBO has heard Wood and Newton’s demands for equal pay. Newton spoke about HBO’s pay disparities at Cannes Lions in June, saying the network was “pressured” into correcting its gender pay gap.
“When I first discovered how much they were offering, it made me realize, ‘Oh, my God, men have been paid so much more,” she said. “Every year I go into a new production or a new season of Westworld, and I didn’t even think to ask for more because I just feel so grateful to be working. But we need to expect more for ourselves.”
The report also states the second group of actors to receive raises could be Tessa Thompson and James Marsden. However, The Hollywood Reporter’s sources say that because Thompson and Marsden weren’t a part of the first round of renegotiations, it could mean their characters have “an unclear future” with the show. Indeed, the two actors’ roles, park exec Charlotte Hale and park host Teddy, were both left in ambivalent states by the end of the season.
The third season of Westworld is expected to drop in 2020.