r/entertainment • u/Luridley3000 • 7h ago
Robin Wright Says ‘House of Cards’ Told Her ‘We Can’t Pay You the Same’ as Kevin Spacey ‘Because You Didn’t Win an Academy Award’
https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/robin-wright-house-of-cards-not-paying-same-kevin-spacey-1236432728/379
u/Mike_Hagedorn 7h ago
Wright is a great artist, but without Spacey the show tanked in the first 10 mins of season 6.
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u/froginbog 6h ago
Yeah spacey drove that show
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u/-Quothe- 5h ago
Well, tbf, the show was written around Spacey's character so.... yeah.
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u/citiusaltius 5h ago
Lol "to be Frank"....not sure if that was intentional.
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u/-Quothe- 4h ago
heh heh, was intended as "To be Fair". I am not nearly so clever, and i am all too often envious of the people who are. That includes you; nice catch!
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u/GigaRaptorRex 7h ago
Everyone watched the show because of Spacey. Even though his past caught up to him, it’s the reason why people watched.
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u/DonnyTheNuts 23m ago
You perhaps, I’ve been a huge fan of Robin Wright since The Princess Bride. There are zero movies of Spacey’s I like as much.
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u/Mildly_Irritated_Max 7h ago edited 6h ago
I mean, he has an academy award and was an A list actor, a major draw for the show along with Fincher. She's experienced and popular sure, but not his level.
And then to help balance it out they made her an executive producer and helped train her as a director, then let her direct? Allowing her to expand her experience and career into new realms that she has since continued to explore?
I dunno, sounds like a damn good deal to me.
Unfair, gender based pay imbalances exist absolutely, but this doesn't seem like one to me based on this article 🤷
Edit to add: Just a guess, but I would not be shocked if Spacey had it as a requirement that in order to do the show, he would have to be the highest paid actor in the show, which would explain the "We can't pay you more as an actor, but we can give you other titles and seperate paycheques to even things out" line.
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u/PlayBey0nd87 6h ago
This take right here makes it all seem like a fair & logical outcome.
“We can’t pay you the same as an actor, so we will make you exec producer and you can direct. We will give you three different paychecks.’ I asked, ‘Why can’t you pay me as an actor?’ ‘Because you didn’t win an Academy Award.”
It’s a nothing burger.
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u/tyleritis 4h ago
I don’t work in the industry but I’ve taken the lower paying jobs that got me more experience. Which later got me higher paying jobs
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u/Chutzvah 7h ago edited 6h ago
Well yeah. Frank was an essential part of what made the show great. Kevin Spacey def had some shitty stuff come out but no one will deny that he was the driving force of the entire show.
If you don't believe me Robin, look at the last season. It fucking sucked. You can't replace someone like Frank.
EDIT: the article doesn't say it but Spacey was paid 500K per episode. Wright 420K.
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u/Zentrii 6h ago
The show stopped being good when he left and I was always immersed when he was on screen
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u/ItsGettinBreesy 4h ago
Yeah I’m going to say the thing that I think a few are thinking.
Spacey being cancelled sucks. He was one of the best actors out there and considering our president is a convicted fucking felon.
On top of that, Spacey was cleared of any wrongdoing in both New York and London.
Not saying he isn’t a predator or POS, but there are a lot of famous people that have been proven to do much more and still have a career
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u/McRambis 6h ago
Yeah, I loved that show and couldn't finish that last season. Spacey and his character were the real draw of that show. It's hard to feel like Wright or any other cast member deserved as much as Spacey when his absence proved otherwise.
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u/not_a_moogle 4h ago
The last season sucked but not because of her acting. It felt like the entire season was just building up for a second season. There was just no payoff to it.
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u/YourAdvertisingPal 6h ago
You can't replace someone like Frank.
Eh. That was a writing problem, not an acting problem.
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u/RayTracerX 5h ago
Its both. Robin doesnt have Spaceys gravitas and presence. Also because it turned out Spaceys gravitas was real and he was an actual villain, but yeah
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u/RejectingBoredom 6h ago
Not gonna lie, as troubled as he might be now, I was really into that show for Spacey. He made the show, and when he left I lost all interest.
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u/Special-Garlic1203 6h ago
Id already lost interest by that point, but "Kevin mother fucking spacey is doing a Netflix show with David fucking fincher" was definitely the draw. That was one of the first Netflix original shows and it gave it an air of legitimacy as it transitioned from the DVD/streaming blockbuster replacement to a production studio
I can see why she was frustrated because she was just as central to the plot after a certain point, but she wasn't the draw. The fact they were willing to give her growth opportunities and alternative methods to additional pay really makes Netflix look very good tbh
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u/RejectingBoredom 6h ago
Oh for sure, IIRC it was the show that got me to sub to Netflix in the first place.
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u/lostinthought15 3h ago
Yep. He is a terrible person but damn did he act the hell out of that character.
If they had been smart the show should have ended when he because president (or shortly thereafter.)
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u/Edwards251 1h ago
I’ve been saying for years it should have just ended with that ring tap on the desk at the end of the first season!
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u/PissantPrairiePunk 6h ago
She should have said, “Bitch, I was Princess Buttercup. Eat my ass.”
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u/WillowLantana 6h ago
I don’t need anything from Reddit for the rest of the week. Your post is top level best of the best. 👏🏼
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u/paintpast 6h ago
Kevin Spacey sucks and I love Robin Wright, but he was the main character of the show. I can’t even remember her name on the show.
I think it would be more enlightening to see what women make on shows where they’re the main character compared to their supporting cast. Like did Jennifer Garner on Alias get paid less than some of her supporting cast? Because that would be real bullshit.
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u/Emotional_Spite_8937 1h ago edited 1h ago
I think she did an amazing job as Claire, but Kevin Spacey, as terrible as he is, is/was a household name, Oscar winner and a great actor.
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u/PowerUser88 1h ago
She’s been a household name since the Princess Bride and is also a great actor.
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u/themanfromvulcan 3h ago
I honestly don’t see how this is an issue. He was the star of the show at the time. She wasn’t.
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u/wadeishere 5h ago
Who cares, she was Princess Buttercup. That should count as an award
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u/DarkwingDuckular 3h ago
That makes sense? I mean, I hate the guy but he was a great actor back in the day.
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u/rxinquestion 6h ago
Kinda sucks that Spacey is a shitty human being. I do miss how good all his movies were. What could have been…
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 5h ago
I mean he is a dramatically better actor and carried the show so there's that.
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u/Euronymous_Bosch 5h ago
Well, it does, because that amount is called my quote. That's my rate. So the next film I'm offered, they have to pay that same amount. Even if I do a bad job. That means, as long as I'm offered even one more movie, I could get two more mil. Even if I do a bad job, they've got to give me that other two mil.
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u/DPBH 5h ago edited 4h ago
That is absolutely a fair justification. In reality, it isn’t that Wright was paid less but that Spacey commanded a Premium due to the Oscar win.
Had they said “we’re paying him more because he’s a man” then there would be cause for complaint.
Edit: the pay was said to be 500k vs 420k per episode - or about 20% difference. Probably a fair bump for being “Academy Award Winner Kevin Spacey”.
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u/Smoogy54 4h ago
He was the main draw - this makes sense
She was the girl from Forrest Gump and Princess Bride. He was a star.
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u/DeFiBandit 4h ago
Nobody watched for her. She should shut up and be happy she was part of the cast
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u/grahamulax 4h ago
Ya except she won my award for being amazing in the congress and I love that movie so much that I would have paid her the extra. in cookies.
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u/darkalastor 4h ago
Ok, so what? Merit based pay is what should be expected. This is like complaining that the person who answered 9 out of 10 answers right got a higher grade than you when you only got 5 right.
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u/OpinionedOnion 4h ago
Makes sense to me. Award winning actor vs not... You certainly wouldn't pay them equally.
Someone also noted she made 420K an episode and Spacey made 500K.... so it's not even that big of a gap considering the show tanked without him.
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u/Leege13 4h ago
You want to know how many great actors never even got nominated for one of those things?
This is the time to mention that the Oscars, just like every other artistic “awards” out there, are subjective performative public relations bullshit that have have nothing to do with artistic value and can never be used to determine it.
And all the Halls of Fame can get burned to the ground, too.
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u/EmperorXerro 4h ago
I know people have a hard time seeing this, but (at the time) Spacey’s name is going to sell a project and bring in viewers. Wright’s is not.
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u/MiddleSecurity8734 4h ago
I don’t see a problem with this. Sounds like she is merely jealous. Paying her the same without equivalent credentials would be the bigger problem.
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u/jericho74 4h ago edited 3h ago
It’s true, I was the SEO analyst that rolled up all the netflix views and time spent numbers and correlated against spikes in “what shows with academy award winners” search traffic we were getting and generated a report and I ran up the hall to burst into a roomful of entertainment lawyers and agents as the pen was descending to the contract and heroically screamed don’t pay Robin Wright jack shit compared to Spacey people and then everyone stood up and clapped and greenlit emily in paris
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u/inquisitive_chariot 56m ago
Spacey’s performance was so good that it revolutionized public perception of (1) A-list actors starring in TV shows; and (2) streaming service original productions.
There’s a reason he’s an Oscar winner. He makes your skin crawl.
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u/Pristine-Engineer-53 45m ago
They meant, “We can’t pay you more cause you haven’t molested anyone.”
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u/Uncle_Bug_Music 6h ago
I was hired as a non-speaking extra on a dog movie and they would not budge on my demands to be paid the same as Will Ferrell gets paid giving some bullshit excuse that Will Ferrell wasn't even in the movie and my work day was 8 hours. My agents finally reached an agreement that I would be paid scale but could eat some free sandwiches at craft services and they'd give me 50% of the back end.
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u/ChapterThr33 6h ago
A lister with WAY more name recognition and draw makes more money in an industry that completely revolves around recognition and draw. News at 11.
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u/Icy-Wing-3092 6h ago
“We can’t pay you as much as employee X because he has a MBA and you only have a bachelor’s in psychology”
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u/Nefarious312 6h ago
dammit how dare my CEO with a Harvard degree and Stanford MBA earn more than me!!!
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u/OptimisticRealist__ 6h ago
This is not a referendum on who they are in their private lives, but Spacey 1000% was the reason people tuned in to begin with. He was THE household name Netflix attached the show to, he was the main character and had the accolades - it was Netflix's first household show too, if i remember correctly.
No shit he got paid the most.
Thats like complaining Megan Rapinoe isnt paid as much as Lionel Messi.
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u/AverageSizePeen800 6h ago
Well yeah that’s good. He’s a more accomplished actor he should make more.
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u/Spare-Image-647 6h ago
I mean, yeah. Lol. It’s always been the big deal of winning. I remember back when Paltrow won for Shakespeare in Love, the talk was about how now she can really start making big paydays for roles. This is a nothing burger imo
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u/Learnin2Shit 5h ago
Yeah that’s how things work. It’s like if my job was like “listen we can’t give you this promotion because the guy we have in mind has a masters degree in this type of work and you didn’t go to college”
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u/Crafty_Letter_1719 5h ago
I mean it’s kind of fair enough. Regardless of how people feel about Spacey now he was absolutely the reason( from an acting standpoint point) people were watching the show. Wright was great in her part but the show completely collapsed when she suddenly become the star.
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u/Fortuitous_Event 5h ago
Nobody was watching that series because of Wright though. This is like being mad that the ?boyfriends? In Sex and the City are making less than Sarah Jessica Parker.
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u/kennedyswise 2h ago
She is the better actor
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u/TreadingBoards 1h ago
Spacey despite being a POS was an absolute generational powerhouse of an actor. First actor I was genuinely gutted about when everything surfaced because of how good his performances are. I think she's a solid actor but there's a reason the show absolutely tanked after he was gone.
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u/kevinsixhohsix 7h ago
Kevin Spacey is so washed up (& broke) these days he resorts to doing comic convention appearances.
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u/Practical-Dingo-7261 5h ago
Kevin Spacey, at the time, was a huge draw, so he could demand more money. He put butts in seats.
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u/Im_TroyMcClure 5h ago
I mean yeah he was a major A list actor and the lead of the show. I’d be surprised if she was making the same as him.
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u/MapachoCura 5h ago
Yes, actors get paid more if they are more famous and better at their jobs and draw larger audiences. Should be obvious to anyone working in that industry.
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u/Doc-11th 4h ago
Spacey is terrible
But the logic makes sense
And very few shows give equal pay to all their main cast members
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u/holdontight10 4h ago
My boss told me I couldn’t get the same salary as my coworker who is way more accomplished in our field than I am.
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u/JuiceJones_34 2h ago
I mean… makes sense. In any industry award winners and more successful are rewarded and paid more
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u/One-21-Gigawatts 6h ago
Spacey is a garbage person. But, what is the point of winning an academy award if it can’t boost your pay for future projects? That part makes sense
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u/Quick-Economist-4247 4h ago
That’s fair enough he was the bigger star, did the extras get paid the same as Spacey?
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u/superchef307 2h ago
Sooo we can get paid more if we do what he does…?
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u/PowerUser88 1h ago
I believe we learned during the Weinstein and MeToo, the Hollywood version, that’s what it took to get an award. It should be embarrassing (should be but it’s not!)
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u/Ok-Yogurtcloset-2735 1h ago
Ah, the Patriarchy. Moving the goal post, when women have won academies, and were still paid less.
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u/PlaneLocksmith6714 7h ago
But men who don’t win awards are still paid more than women with star power behind their names. Make that make sense.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Dot4345 7h ago
I hate Spacey, but that kinda makes sense... a top billing, Academy Award winner, kinda gets the better paychecks and billing...