A new testament of Chadwick Boseman being a genuinely decent human being has emerged, as Sienna Miller reveals that he took a pay cut so that she was able to be paid fairly for her work alongside him in 21 Bridges in 2019.
Sienna Miller spoke for the first time about the late actor’s allyship in a recent interview with Empire, noting that he was never self-aggrandising about taking a cut in his pay to make sure she was compensated in a way she thought was fair.
“There was no showiness,” she said.
“It was, ‘Of course I’ll get you to that number, because that’s what you should be paid.’”
Boseman was also a producer on the film, who had actively chased Sienna to play the role of Detective Frankie Burns in the film. As soon as she told him that she’d only agree to the role if she was appropriately compensated for it – she had plans to step away from acting and focus on her family for a while – he started working on making sure her financial requests were met.
“This was a pretty big budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn’t get to,” Sienna said.
“And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, ‘I’ll do it if I’m compensated in the right way.’”
This included Chadwick Boseman taking a cut in his own pay for his work both as a producer and the lead role in the action film, and telling Sienna that it was what she deserved to be paid what she’s worth.
“It was about the most astounding thing that I’ve experienced,” she said.
“That kind of thing just doesn’t happen. He said, ‘You’re getting paid what you deserve, and what you’re worth.’ It’s just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully.
“In the aftermath of this I’ve told other male actor friends of mine that story and they all go very very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while.”
That’s right, we should be taking big notes from the way Chadwick did everything in his power to make things fair for others. We truly did not deserve him.
