I charged 7 and he 30
The actress spoke for the first time about the drama she experienced with her colleague in Scenes from married life.
In 2014, Ricardo Darín and Valeria Bertuccelli conquered the theatrical box office with a mega success; Scenes of conjugal life. It was a year of a full room, endless applause and great collection, but behind closed doors, the actress lived a hell of mistreatment and humiliation, according to a note with Luis Novaresio, in which she spoke for the first time of that difficult time.
In the extensive interview, Bertuccelli clarified that she decided to tell the details now because of the cultural context of the advancement of feminism, where some behaviors like the ones she suffered -always according to her version- of her when she worked with Darín are already unacceptable. She did not want to specify or specifically exemplify when she felt mistreated, but she revealed that she even passed out behind the scenes from the anguish of the situation.
The actress made another strong complaint that borders on a topic that also tries to make feminism visible; the wage gap between men and women. She said that although she received a very good salary because the play was a success, her cachet was much lower than that of Darín, who was actually her co-star. That is to say, beyond the weight of the individual names, in the piece, they were pairs.
"I left a play that was a success, that was first on the bill. I earned very well and I was able to save because the theater does not pay taxes and there were only two of us. But the salary, if we talk about equality, had nothing to do with it. I understand the career, his trajectory. But I earned 6 points and then I fought for 7 or 8 and Ricardo earned 30. Inequality... I'm encouraging myself to say this today because I think it's worth it, "said Bertuccelli.
It is worth clarifying that in the theater, some actors arrange, in addition to a fixed salary, to collect a certain amount of "points" that is equivalent to a total percentage of what is collected. The more box office, the more collection.
Bertuccelli is the first Argentine actress who is encouraged to talk about a subject as sensitive as salary on TV. Due to the context of the country, no celebrity talks about money, much less, to denounce a salary gap.
In Hollywood, however, renowned actresses such as Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lawrence spoke out on the subject and Carol's interpreter even said that she rejected a role in a movie that was shaping up to be successful because they refused to pay her the same as her male co-star.
The pay gap was also discussed when it emerged that Claire Foy, the star of The Crown, was paid less than Matt Smith, who played a supporting character. That data generated a real scandal and the producers of the series were forced to "compensate" the actress for her disparity. She was paid 227 thousand euros, for having received 11 thousand euros less than Matt Smith during the 20 episodes they shared.
