The gender pay gap debate has reached one of the BBC’s most popular dramas after the Poldark star Eleanor Tomlinson called for pay equality with her fellow lead Aidan Turner.
Although the actor recognised that Turner was a bigger name when the series began in 2015, following roles in the film The Hobbit and several other BBC dramas, she argued that they are now both its leads and should be paid the same salary.
In an interview with Red Magazine, Tomlinson, who plays Demelza, said “My guess is no” when she was asked whether she thought she was paid the same as her co-lead Turner.
“And while at the beginning that might have been OK, he was a bigger star than me, now I don’t think so,” said Tomlinson, who reportedly looked “despondent” as she discussed the issue. “We’re equal leads of the show, so I’d be pretty upset if the gap hadn’t closed.”
The show’s producers, Mammoth Screen, confirmed her suspicions in a statement.
It defended paying Turner more since he has “significantly more screen time than any other character”.
“Whilst we can’t and won’t disclose the details, we do pay Aidan Turner more for playing Ross Poldark as throughout all series Ross has significantly more screen time than any other character,” she said.
Women are paid on average 10.7% less than men at the BBC, it emerged last year, following the revelation that only a third of its 96 top earners were women and the top seven were all men.
Last week it became known that the Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow took a voluntary 25% cut to his salary in an attempt to help close the gender pay gap at the broadcaster. It has a 28.6% gender pay gap, significantly higher than ITV’s 11.9% and ITN’s 18.2%
The actor Claire Foy reportedly received £200,000 in backpay after the revelation she was paid less than her male co-star in the Netflix hit The Crown, as the makers of the Netflix drama took steps to close its gender pay gap.
Poldark’s cast is paid by the show’s independent production company, rather than the BBC, like many of the channel’s stars.
The show is slated to return to screens in early summer for a highly anticipated fourth season. Earlier this month Tomlinson, wearing a “girl power” shirt, confirmed that the show has also been commissioned for a fifth series.
Tomlinson said she and Turner are great friends “although we do row”.
“(We row about) everything – usually our characters,” she said. “We’re both ridiculously protective of them and squabble like an old married couple.
“Usually it’s one of us saying that our character wouldn’t behave a certain way. Aidan loves everything being his [character’s]. But then he loves to wind me up.”
