I love a romantic western as much as the next person, but you know what I don’t love? Pay disparity. Unfortunately, Ransom Canyon has both. According to a new report, Minka Kelly was paid less than her male co-star on Ransom Canyon. The silver lining? She was able to negotiate a much higher pay than initially offered after she asked for parity with Josh Duhamel, proving you really do have to ask for what you deserve.
Minka stars in Ransom Canyon as Quinn, owner of a local dance hall and former classical pianist who has been harboring a life-long crush on Staten, a troubled rancher. The two are co-leads, but did not receive equal pay. Josh, who plays Staten, was reportedly cast first, meaning he negotiated his contract before anyone else. Minka was cast later, but was the only actor invited to do a chemistry read with Josh, suggesting that she was Netflix’s top choice for the role.
Per the report, Minka asked for pay parity with Josh, and though the studio refused, they did raise her offer to minimize the pay gap, something the actor herself appreciated. “I think that’s probably one of the best things about working with Netflix, is that they’re very pro that,” she told Deadline when asked about the pay gap. “I didn’t have to fight very hard. They sort of made that easy.”
Despite still reportedly being paid less than her male counterpart on the show, she added, “I feel really lucky to get to work with the company that does care about that.”
Anna Kooris/ Netflix
Asking to negotiate one’s salary might seem like a risky move in Hollywood, but Minka has a secret weapon: a “backup career” as an operating room scrub nurse. Minka opened up about her past profession during a recent appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends, telling co-hosts Jenna Bush and Andy Cohen that she thinks about going back to the O.R. after “every job that finishes” and would seriously consider leaving Hollywood “all the time.”
Kelly went on to explain that knowing she has skills outside of Hollywood gives her the confidence to keep going even when it’s hard. “The rejection that you get being an actor is sort of balanced out for me, and you can go, ‘But I’m good at this. I know I’m good at this.’” Perhaps it helped give her the confidence to ask for pay parity, too.
