Spotlighting the glass ceiling. Bryce Dallas Howard opened up about the pay disparity between her and Jurassic World costar Chris Pratt — revealing there was quite a significant wage gap.
“The reports [on how much we made] were so interesting because I was paid so much less than the reports even said, so much less,” Howard, 41, told Insider in an interview that was published on Monday, August 15. “When I started negotiating for Jurassic [World], it was 2014, and it was a different world, and I was at a great disadvantage. And, unfortunately, you have to sign up for three movies, and so your deals are set.”
Jurassic World hit theaters in 2015, and its sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, debuted three years later. At the time, Variety reported that Howard made $8 million on the project, while Pratt, 43, walked away with $10 million.
The powers-that-be at Universal Pictures may have kept her from pay parity, but Howard revealed that Pratt, upon learning of the financial difference, pushed for the Twilight saga actress to earn more money from other franchise opportunities that were not already contracted.
“Chris and I have discussed it, and whenever there was an opportunity to move the needle on stuff that hadn’t been already negotiated, like a game or a ride, he literally told me: ‘You guys don’t even have to do anything. I’m gonna do all the negotiating. We’re gonna be paid the same, and you don’t have to think about this, Bryce,’” the 50/50 star shared. “I love him so much for doing that. I really do, because I’ve been paid more for those kinds of things than I ever was for the movie.”
While the Lady In The Water actress may have turned to her Jurassic costar for support, she’s no stranger to navigating her own career. Howard’s father, Ron Howard, recently gushed over how well his daughter has navigated the industry over the years.
“She hasn’t needed my help very much,” the American Graffiti star, 68, exclusively told Us Weekly in July. “She takes my advice along with a handful of other people. She’s very thoughtful about all that, but I don’t think my comments have ever been pivotal. [Since] the age of, I think, as she was 20 or 21, [is] when she really became a professional – first with a year in theater and then with The Village. She’s always had a clear sense of the way in which she could best contribute and what she hoped to get out of the experience of the business.”
The Rocketman star carved out her own path by starring in 2004’s The Village, before landing the role of Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 opposite Tobey McGuire. She’s also been cast in a variety of critically acclaimed films, including The Help and 50/50, and has moved into directing, helming episodes of Star Wars’ streaming series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Despite an Oscar-winning father, the California native has made her own mark in Hollywood over the years — something the Happy Days alum credits to her passion for the craft.
“I’ve always admired the fact that she’s in the business for the right reasons,” the Night Shift producer told Us. “She loves the process. She loves the people; she loves what it can offer audiences. It’s a career, sure, but it’s not really about the more superficial things. It’s more about the more durable factors that the time you invest in something is time you’ll never get back. And if you invest it well with people you enjoy working with, then those are the building blocks of great memories and a great life.”
Bryce, for her part, gushed about her father’s influence during an interview with Today in 2020. “My dad was constantly bringing me to movie sets. I loved that,” the actress shared at the time. “He inspired me.”
