House of Cards’ Robin Wright Negotiates Equal Pay to Kevin Spacey for Her Role

While Frank Underwood might be the president, there’s no doubt that Claire is his equal partner in their relationship. They built their empire together.

Robin Wright’s character on Netflix’s smash hit ‘House of Cards’ has certainly left a lasting impression in her portrayal as the First Lady. Certainly the show could not go on without her, as she routinely steals the screen in one of the show’s best performances.

I was looking at the statistics and Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time. So I capitalized on it.

So it would make sense that when Wright asked to be paid as an equal to Kevin Spacey, that she’d have a fighting chance in winning that argument, right?

This week, Wright was on stage at the Rockefeller Foundation talking about her role, and how she negotiated equal pay as her counterpart. The Huffington Post was on scene at the event, and got some great quotes from her Q&A session.

“I was like, ‘I want to be paid the same as Kevin,’” said Wright. “It was the perfect paradigm. There are very few films or TV shows where the male, the patriarch, and the matriarch are equal. And they are in ‘House of Cards.’ I was looking at the statistics and Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time. So I capitalized on it. I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public,’ And they did”

There has been an ongoing argument as of late about unequal pay among men and women in Hollwood, so just as Claire Underwood hopes to leave a lasting impression of her policy decisions, perhaps Robin Wright will do so with this recent effort for women to earn the same as men in their acting careers.

There’s no telling how many more seasons ‘House of Cards’ has left on Netflix, but with the pace at which the show is currently moving, there’s plenty of room left for the dynamic power couple to leave their mark on the streaming service for at least a few more seasons.

You can currently stream the first four seasons of ‘House of Cards’ on Netflix.