Kirsten Dunst Talks Pay Difference Between Her and Tobey Maguire in ‘Spider-Man’: “It Was Different. A Lot Different”

No matter whether you are a fan of Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy, you have to agree that Kirsten Dunst’s portrayal of the former is legendary at this point. Dunst portrayed Mary Jane in Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy, which is still Kirsten’s most financially successful movie up to this point.

‘Spider-Man’ made cinematic history by becoming the first film to exceed $100 million in a single weekend, setting a new opening weekend record. ‘Spider-Man 2’ earned $373.6 million domestically and $415 million internationally, totaling a worldwide gross of $788.6 million, surpassing its $200 million production budget. Upon its release on June 30, 2004, it grossed $40.4 million on its first day, setting a new record until it was surpassed by ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ a year later.

Speaking about pay, it’s known that Tobey Maguire had quite the payday following the release of both movies, his check only increasing with each subsequent installment, Dunst recently opened up about how it wasn’t the same for her.

In her recent interview with Variety, while promoting her latest movie ‘Civil War’ it was mentioned that Maguire got $17 million for the ‘Spider-Man’ sequel. Dunst explained that she got a lot less.

t might have been more, actually. It was different. A lot different. And I was in ‘Bring It On’ and had a track record.

You can argue, and you would be correct that Dunst is nowhere near as important a character as Tobey Maguire and she had no means to leverage more pay, still, she pointed out how the gender pay gap in Hollywood is all too real.

This gap has been well-documented, with numerous reports indicating that women typically earn less than their male counterparts for similar roles and positions. This is due to several reasons, but the most important among them are unequal opportunities and negotiation power imbalances.

Luckily, the gap is becoming closer, even though it’s still significant. Nowadays, it’s easier to bring these issues to light and correct them with enough public outrage. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!