Poldark production company reveals Aidan Turner paid more than Eleanor Tomlinson

In the midst of many discussions as of late regarding compensation and pay in the workplace, we have seen the conversation shift often when it comes to television shows. Recently, there was great controversy (and understandably so) when it was revealed that Claire Foy was paid less for The Crown than her co-star Matt Smith, even though she was the focal point of the show and was playing the main character of Queen Elizabeth II.

Over the past few years the conversation has shifted over to Poldark, largely due to comments that series star Eleanor Tomlinson (who plays Demelza) made on the subject recently to Red magazine about her desire for a greater pay representation in the workplace. She felt as though there should be a commitment now towards pay equity based on her overall presence in the series over time:

“While at the beginning that might have been okay – he was a bigger star than me – now I don’t think so … We’re equal leads of the show, so I’d be pretty upset if the gap hadn’t closed.”

It is certainly understandable precisely where Tomlinson is coming from here, given that what she talks about here is similar to many other shows in which the known name is often paid more right out of the gate; however, over time the expectation should be that the co-star is brought towards their level if they share a lot of screen time with them and are very much equal reason for the show’s success.

In a response to all of this, however, production company Mammoth Screen tells Digital Spy that there is still a pay disparity on the series, largely due to the sheer amount of time in which he is on-screen:

“Whilst we can’t and won’t disclose the details, we do pay Aidan Turner more for playing Ross Poldark as throughout all series Ross has significantly more screen time than any other character.”

While the finer details of the production company’s arrangement and the total minutes of screen time are a little beyond our purview, we do hope that most can see the overall importance of equality in the work place. Every employee of a production should fee like they are receiving fair compensation and hopefully that is something that happens for Tomlinson as we enter the final season of Poldark coming up.

Related – Check out some of the recent premiere-date speculation for the series

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