Susan Sarandon says Paul Newman once gave her part of his salary to ensure equal pay

Credit: Maury Phillips

Credit: Maury Phillips

Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon said in an interview that actor Paul Newman once gave up part of his salary on a film they starred in to ensure that she would get the same pay as her male co-stars.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sarandon said she found out that her two male co-stars were being paid the same amount -- and it was more than she was being paid.

Sarandon, who won an Oscar for best actress in 1996 for the movie "Dead Man Walking," said that Newman "stepped forward and said, 'Well, I'll give you part of mine,'" the BBC reported.

“He was a gem,” Sarandon told BBC Radio 5 Live.

While Sarandon did not mention the movie by name, it is likely that is was the 1998 film "Twilight," which also starred Gene Hackman, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

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