Jeremy Renner won’t be standing with his female co-stars in fighting for equal pay.
His “American Hustle” co-star Jennifer Lawrence recently penned an essay slamming the gender pay inequality in Hollywood. She listed Renner as among her male “American Hustle” co-stars who earned more money than her on the film. Several A-listers, including her other “Hustle” co-star and frequent collaborator, Bradley Cooper, have voiced their support, with Cooper telling Reuters that he plans to start teaming up with female co-stars to negotiate salaries before he begins production on a film.
“I don’t know where it’s changing otherwise but that’s something that I could do,” Cooper said. “Usually you don’t talk about the financial stuff, you have people. But you know what? It’s time to start doing that.”
Renner, however, took a different stance.
“That’s not my job,” Renner told Business Insider when asked if he would be willing to negotiate alongside his female co-stars. “I don’t know contracts and money and all that sort of stuff.”
Although he supports actresses’ efforts to fill the gender gap, he said he’s more focused on honing his craft.
“I’m a performer and I know human behavior,” he added. “When it comes to that sort of stuff, I let other people deal with that. I do what I’m good at, that’s what I focus on.”
Lawrence wrote in the essay for Lena Dunham’s newsletter that she’ll no longer be biting her tongue in an effort to be more likable while negotiating her salary: “F— that.”
“Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves … while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share,” she wrote.
