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Actress Kirsten Dunst is widely recognized for her role as Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man trilogy, but she was already a well-established figure in the film industry long before starring alongside Tobey Maguire in theSpider-Mantrilogy. She had played the role of Judy in the all-time favoriteJumanjiand had also led iconic films likeBring It On.Clearly, she has been a prominent figure in Hollywood since time immemorial.
Despite her fame, Kirsten Dunst once opened up about the pay disparity between her and Tobey Maguire. He reportedly earned much more than she did, despite having fewer films under his belt compared to Kirsten Dunst. The actress became the victim of trolling at the hands of comedian Jeff Dye who blasted the actress for wanting to be paid more than the actor who plays the literal titular character.
Kirsten Dunst’s Comments on theSpider-ManPay Gap
Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane was undoubtedly one of the best parts ofSam Raimi’sSpider-Mantrilogy. Her chemistry withTobey Maguireand her ability to bring depth to the character sure had a hand in making the trilogy what it is today.
Dunst also had a great time playing Spider-Man’s love interest in the trilogy which is clear by the fact that she wanted to return to the character inTom Holland’s films (viaBritish GQ). However, regardless of her feelings toward the trilogy and her character, the actress didn’t hesitate to address the pay gap between her and Maguire.
20 Years of Spider-Man 2: After Dissing the Spider-Man Kiss, Kirsten Dunst Refused Doing a Scene With Tobey Maguire She Found “Terrifying” – “Never doing it again”
Speaking toBBCrecently, Dunst stated,
I definitely grew up in a time of major pay disparity between the lead actor and myself. Even though I had been in ‘Bring It On’ and he hadn’t … I had more success in my box office than he did. I was 17, I was still learning, at that age I’m still learning my taste in film, I didn’t even think to ask. I didn’t even know there was a place to challenge it. That’s how it is at 17.
She also confided inThe Independentback in 2021 stating that the pay disparity between her“and Spider-Man was very extreme.”
Maguire hadreportedlymade $4 million for the firstSpider-Manfilm. The reports also state that the actor’s salary was increased to $17.5 million plus 5% of the back-end gross in the sequel and $15 million plus 7.5% in the back-end. Dunst reportedly got paid much less.
Comedian Jeff Dye Comes for Kirsten Dunst
Dunst has talked about the pay gap between her and Maguire on a few occasions now including the time when she toldVarietythat theBabylonactor could have been paid much more than what the reports suggest.
Kirsten Dunst Was in a Lot of Pain While Shooting Spider-Man 3 With Tobey Maguire: “I was so sick of giving myself to other people”
When asked about her paycheck, she stated that it was much different than that of Maguire’s, once again bringing up the fact that she had a track record in the industry and was also inBring It On.
It might have been more, actually. It was different. A lot different. And I was in ‘Bring It On’ and had a track record.
After her interview with BBC was released, comedian Jeff Dye took to his social media to troll the actress. He mimicked the actress’ voice and stated,
Can you believe that Spider-Man made more money than me on the movie ‘Spider-Man?’ He wasn’t even in ‘Bring It On!’ I mean, I know he was in 20 projects, TV and movie, before I was in ‘Bring It On’ but he wasn’t even in ‘Bring It On.’ How does Spider-Man make more money than me in the movie ‘Spider-Man’?
That was absolutely brutal! As per the clip of Dunst’s interview seen in Dye’s video, the actress made $7 million and $10 million forSpider-Man 2and3respectively.
A post shared by Jeff Dye (@jeffdye)
In the caption, Dye stated that“she [Dunst] has an agent who negotiates her terms THAT SHE AGREES TO”and urged viewers to stop listening to Hollywood millionaires. The comedian really was out to get the actress!
Stream theSpider-Mantrilogy on Disney+.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2256
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you can find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
