Hillary Swank Made A Mere $3,000 For Her Oscar-Winning Role In 'Boys Don't Cry'

Hilary Swank is one of Hollywood’s top actresses. With two Oscars and plenty of other awards under her belt, there’s no denying her talent. You’d think studios would pay her accordingly, but, the gender pay gap is still as alive and well in 2016 as it has been for years.

In a new clip from Chelsea Handler’s self-titled Netflix show, Swank revealed some shocking facts about how much money she made for her now-iconic, Oscar-winning role in “Boys Don’t Cry.” (Hint: It was basically nothing, in Hollywood terms.)

“When I did ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ I was 24 years old. I made $3,000,” the 42-year-old actress told Handler and a table of other women in Hollywood. “In order to have health insurance, you have to make $5,000, so I didn’t even know that I didn’t have health insurance until I went and tried to get a prescription filled. They said, ‘That’s $160.’ … I had an Academy Award [and] no health insurance.”

Winning the award didn’t seem to help much in the way of other paychecks, either.

After earning her second Academy Award, for her role in 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby,” the actress described getting an offer to appear in a movie with a male lead who “hadn’t had any kind of critical success, but had been in a movie where he was hot.”

“He got offered $10 million and I got offered $500,000.”

Our reaction:

Swank turned down the role and revealed that “they went and found a newcomer who did it for $50,000. They made a savings of $450,000, probably to give the guy his bonuses.”

Excuse us, we’ll just be over here, shaking our damn heads.

Don’t know what to watch on Netflix? Message us on Facebook Messenger for TV and movie recommendations from our editors!