Jennifer Lawrence Opens Up About Leonardo DiCaprio Making More Money For Don't Look Up

Actors have always been among the most highly-paid workers in the world, but with the advent of streaming, their paychecks have completely skyrocketed. As Variety reports, the highest-paid stars of 2021 earned exponentially more than their counterparts from even a few years ago, thanks predominantly to the likes of Netflix, Amazon and other deep-pocketed companies forking out the big bucks to put them in their movies. In fact, Daniel Craig took in more than $100 million after two sequels to Rian Johnson's celebrated whodunnit "Knives Out" were sold to Netflix. 

Streamers typically pay big-name stars like Craig for the projected back-end box office receipts earned by the film playing only in theaters. This is on top of their base salary which, in the British actor's case, obviously increased given the movies in question are also sequels. Elsewhere, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson earned $30 million following Amazon Studios' acquisition of "Red One." He may even stand to get closer to $50 million once all is said and done. Leonardo DiCaprio also earned $30 million for Netflix's "Don't Look Up," while co-star Jennifer Lawrence picked up $25 million. 

Although both actors walked away with millions of dollars, questions have been raised over why Lawrence earned less than her male co-star. But Lawrence is setting everybody straight with a characteristically frank response.

According to an interview with Vanity Fair, Jennifer Lawrence doesn't feel hard done by because she earned $5 million less than co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, for their Adam McKay comedy "Don't Look Up." As Lawrence reasoned simply, he's the bigger star. "Look, Leo brings in more box office than I do. I'm extremely fortunate and happy with my deal," she said. However, Lawrence also made it clear, "But in other situations, what I have seen — and I'm sure other women in the workforce have seen as well — is that it's extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay. And if you do question something that appears unequal, you're told it's not gender disparity but they can't tell you what exactly it is." The Oscar-winner did, however, request top billing. Likewise, her name appears onscreen first and stays there for a few seconds before DiCaprio's shows up.

He didn't mind playing second fiddle in a way either. "Leo was very gracious about it," Lawrence confirmed. They were originally going to be co-leads, but at some point Lawrence broached the idea of being top instead. Elsewhere, she discussed taking a break from the spotlight for a couple years, admitting to feeling as though the public was getting sick of her. Likewise, "I was not pumping out the quality that I should have." Lawrence is taking active steps to be less of a people-pleaser, which clearly extends to demanding top billing wherever she sees fit.