Julie Delpy claims she refused to film Before Midnight until getting equal pay to co-star Ethan Hawke

Actor says she was paid ‘a tenth’ of what male co-star received for first movie

(Columbia Pictures)

Julie Delpy has claimed she was paid a fraction of what her co-star Ethan Hawke received for the first two films in the Before Sunrise series.

The actor and filmmaker appeared in three films with Hawke between 1995 and 2013, and has said she was paid “a tenth” of Hawke’s salary for the first movie and “half” for the second, Before Sunset, even though both the stars co-wrote the latter with Richard Linklater.

Delpy revealed she has been a victim of the gender pay gap in an interview with Variety.

She said she refused to do Before Midnight, the final film in the franchise, unless she was paid the same as Hawke.

“And the third movie,” she explained, “I said, ‘Listen guys, if I’m not paid the same I’m not doing it.”

Before Sunrise was Delpy’s breakout film role and the franchise earned her two Oscar nominations.

Delpy can next be seen in the drama My Zoe, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.