It's official: House Of Cards is coming back — without Kevin Spacey. The actor was ousted from the show following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, and now the Netflix show's sixth and final season will resume production in 2018, this time with a possible focus on Robin Wright's character, Claire Underwood. So, is Wright going to get equal pay now?
Back in May, the actress revealed that when she thought she was getting equal pay, it turned out that wasn't the case.
"I was told that I was getting equal pay and I believed them, and I found out recently that it’s not true... so that’s something to investigate," she told The Edit. Her reasoning back then (other than, you know, equality) was that her character and Spacey's Frank Underwood are equally important to the show.
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"Claire and Francis are equivalent as far as their power, their union, and the plot," she explained. "I may not have as many scenes or words as Francis, but Claire doesn’t need to verbalise as much. Francis is an orator, a poet, a demonstrator. Claire is an [ego] that sits in the back and directs him, but they are partners on the same plane."
With Spacey's character now gone, Wright deserves that equal pay and then some. After all, any of the viewers who come back to the show will be coming back to see her. She holds the key for the show finding any success in its final season, and she should be valued as such. It's already atrocious that she was mislead about the details of her salary, but it will be even more horrifying if she continues to get short-changed in the wake of Spacey's misconduct, especially with the reckoning currently happening in the industry. Since apparently no one was listening before, society is now aware of how much women have suffered and been held back thanks to the behaviour of men. If we can't change the past, then we have to change the future, and the industry can start with its wallet.
Netflix declined to comment on Wright's future salary, or whether or not Spacey would still make money as executive producer of the show.
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