Spider-Man 2’s Kirsten Dunst Talks Pay Disparity & Being Paid Much Less Than Tobey Maguire

Academy Award nominee Kirsten Dunst has commented on the gender pay gap in Hollywood, reflecting on the sheer disparity between her pay and that of Tobey Maguire while making Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. Speaking with Variety, Dunst revealed that Maguire, who starred in the trilogy as Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, was paid around $17 million for Spider-Man 2, which was a lot more than her own paycheque.

“It might have been more, actually. It was different. A lot different. And I was in Bring It On and had a track record.”

Dunst argues that, despite having credits such as Bring It On to her name, the difference between what she made from Spider-Man 2 compared to Maguire was too vast. Despite this, the actress went on to say that the money offered for roles is not her main motivator, and that she regrets the attitude she had towards the pay in the past.

“When I was younger, in my 20s, I didn’t have the best guidance, I would say, and I did a couple of duds for money reasons, but nothing that I would have actually done otherwise. I get offered the most money on things I don’t want to do. As soon as I took the reins and started to develop my tastes and who I wanted to work with, everything shifted.”

Dunst starred as Mary Jane Watson alongside Tobey Maguire throughout Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, which is often hailed as opening the door for the genre as we know it today. While she has not returned to superhero movies since, she recently said she would have loved to return for the MCU’s Spider-Man: No Way Home…but was never asked.

“No, no. I would have.

“It would be funny to be like, OK, let’s take Tobey [Maguire] and I and do it in a weird indie way where it’s like a different kind of superhero film. Like how they did that movie Chronicle. It would be cool.”

Kirsten Dunst Will Next Lead the Dysoptian War Movie Civil War for A24

Civil War

Release Date

April 26, 2024

Studio

A24, DNA Films

Kirsten Dunst can next be seen starring in Civil War from writer and director Alex Garland. Civil War follows a team of journalists who travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating American Civil War, which has engulfed the entire nation. You can check out the official synopsis below.

“From filmmaker Alex Garland comes a journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.”

Starring Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Nick Offerman alongside Dunst, Civil War has been met with critical acclaim and currently sits at 93% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.