Kristen Dunst has said that the pay gap between her and co-star Tobey Maguire was ‘extreme’ on the early aughts superhero trilogy Spider-Man. Dunst shared that despite being top-billed for the role, the compensation she received for playing Spider-Man’s love interest Mary Jane Watson was considerably less than what Maguire’s eponymous character got.
The pay disparity between me and Spider-Man was very extreme. I didn’t even think about it. I was just like, ‘Oh yeah, Tobey [Maguire] is playing Spider-Man,’” said Dunst.
While it is unknown how much Dunst made for her role, Maguire received $4 million for the first film before settling for $17.5 million for the sequel.
Dunst, like Maguire, is reportedly reprising her role for the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home. The original Spider-Man trilogy, released between 2002 and 2007, made approximately $2.4 billion worldwide. The series has since been rebooted twice, with Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland taking over as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Shailene Woodley was cast as Mary Jane in the Garfield films, but her role was axed.
Dunst did not elaborate on exactly how extreme the pay disparity was, though she also revealed that Spider-Man producers wanted her to have her teeth straightened for the role. “I was like, ‘Mmmmm, no, I like my teeth,'” she told the producer, as he unexpectedly took her to a dentist’s office. She refused to have them straightened, and she revealed that as a result her teeth were edited on the final poster for the film.