--- title: Hilary Swank Won 2 Oscars and Was Still Offered 5% of Male Co-Star's Pay description: Actress Hilary Swank says she was offered 5% of the male co-star's pay in one movie she ultimately turned down. This is after Swank had won two Oscars. authors: - name: Kerri Anne Renzulli url: https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 185 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/kerenzulli former_staff: true published: '2016-10-21T18:03:51.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T04:17:31.000Z' section: Business tags: - Careers - Earnings - Hollywood - movies - pubdesk - wage gap word_count: 239 canonical: https://money.com/hilary-swank-wage-gap-male-what-hollywood-pays-women/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![2016 Many Rivers To Cross Festival](https://img.money.com/2016/10/gettyimages-612099270.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2000px%2C1124px&quality=85) Two-time Oscar award-winning actress Hilary Swank knows the [wage gap](https://money.com/hollywood-wage-gap/) is real, even for the most successful ladies in Hollywood. At a dinner party recorded for Chelsea Handler's Netflix show, Swank shared that after winning her second Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby" in 2005, she was offered a role in a movie that would have paid her far less than the male co-lead, according to reporting by [*Business Insider*](http://www.businessinsider.com/hilary-swank-hollywood-gender-pay-gap-salary-2016-10). "I get offered a movie. But the male hadn't had any kind of critical success, but had been in a movie where he was 'hot.' And he got offered $10 million, and I got offered $500,000," Swank said. Meaning Swank was offered a mere 5% of the male actor's salary. She said she turned the job down, but was replaced by a newcomer who in turn earned only $50,000. "So they made a savings of $450 \[thousand\] probably to give the guy his bonuses," Swank said. ***Read Next:* [Why You Should Care About the Hollywood Wage Gap](https://money.com/hollywood-wage-gap/)** She said her own breakout turn in "Boys Don't Cry" earned her a measly $3,000, which she recalls wasn't even enough to get health insurance. (Though she did get an Oscar.) "In order to have health insurance, you have to make $5,000. So I didn't even know that I didn't have health insurance until I went in and tried to get a prescription filled," Swank said. 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