Julie Delpy: Bravo Honey! Bravoooooooo!
And by all, I mean the female part of the population. You’ve probably heard the news. That Julie Delpy is a BAD ASS! With a capital B! The French actress apparently refused to make Before Midnight, the third movie of Richard Linklater’s trilogy if she didn’t get paid in the equal amount to her male counter-part.
And in the words of Samantha Jones… Bravo honey! Bravoooo! She stood up for herself, she believed in herself and she demanded to be treated as equal. Because that’s what it boils down to. The rights to be treated equal. And why shouldn’t she you might ask?
Ethan Hawke was and still is by far the most famous and revered actor from the on-screen duo. He’s been a staple in Hollywood since he was a teenager and Julie has been prevalent in mostly European productions during the span of her career.
She couldn’t possibly be considered an equal merely by that? Oh but she can. Look, whether you like it or not, she’s the other half of this trilogy. That’s it. The Before trilogy has been carried on the shoulders of he two main characters Jesse and Celine and therefore on the shoulders on the two actors.
According to Delpy’s accounts she was paid one tenth of Hawke’s salary for the first movie, half of Ethan’s salary for the second movie and thankfully she was paid an equal amount to Hawke for the third.
And let’s not forget that she didn’t just acted in these movies. She helped write all three of them. That’s right. Julie is credited co-writer on all three Before movies and earned Academy awards nominations for two of them. Her nomination was shared with Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawker but still. She helped write these movies! What’s interesting is that she’s been a trailblazer in the pay equality movement even before it was cool to talk about it, let alone demand it. Nowadays everyone is campaigning for equal pay (men and women) but back then (in 2013 when the movie came out) not that many had the balls to even mention it to their bosses.
So yeah. Julie is the unsung hero we all need. We need women like her in any field let alone in the show-business. Everywhere you feel scared or pressured not to demand a better pay check, think of her. She has the balls, the guts and the cape of a true hero.
