Nina Dobrev has revealed her wrestle for equal pay on The Vampire Diaries.
Nina Dobrev had an actual wrestle for equal pay on The Vampire Diaries
The 36-year-old actress – who starred alongside Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder within the first six seasons of the supernatural teen drama – has recalled the arguments she confronted as she was being paid lower than her male castmates, regardless of enjoying however Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on the present.
In Samantha Highfill’s new ebook I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral Historical past of The Vampire Diarie, Nina mentioned: “Candice [King], Kat [Graham], and I have been the three lowest-paid sequence regulars within the first two seasons.
“It was a little bit of a difficult scenario as a result of my contract solely mentioned to play Elena, however I used to be enjoying a number of characters, which doubled my workload.”
She alleged regardless of having a extra demanding schedule because of enjoying doppelgänger variations of Elena, she wasn’t compensation pretty compared to her co-stars.
She added: “I needed to be on set for double the period of time, I needed to memorise double the quantity of traces.
“I needed to play Katherine, however I needed to be compensated pretty for that, and I needed to be an equal to the boys.”
After pleading her case, she has alleged the studio truly requested wrtiers to cease writing for Katherine to keep away from having to pay extra.
She recalled: “I bear in mind feeling just like the studio didn’t admire what I used to be bringing to the present, and it felt like they have been saying that each one the arduous work I used to be placing into it didn’t matter to them and that I wasn’t an equal to my male counterparts, and in order that was upsetting to me.”
She later returned for the eighth and ultimate season, however the provide was “5 occasions much less” than what she was paid in season six.
She mentioned: “I wanted to be paid parity to the boys. I needed to put my foot down and say if it did not occur I would not have the ability to come again.
“And it wasn’t in regards to the cash — I did not give a s*** in regards to the cash in any respect — it was the precept.”
Nina argued she was involved much less by the “precise greenback quantity”, and extra by getting equal pay, and when that occurred, she “politely declined the provide”.
Co-creator and showrunner Julie Plec backed her, with the studio agreeing to carry her again at her asking charge, however for only one episode as a substitute of the complete run.
Whereas she “needed to be a part of the goodbye”, Nina added: “It was heartbreaking that the artistry needed to endure due to this.”
