Chadwick Boseman cut his own salary to raise Sienna Miller’s on ’21 Bridges’ film

Miller revealed the story in an interview with Empire this week

Actor Sienna Miller revealed this week that 21 Bridges co-star Chadwick Boseman donated a portion of his salary to ensure she would be paid fairly.

Boseman passed away last month after a private, four-year battle with colon cancer. Following his untimely death, many of Boseman’s friends and co-stars have told stories of his generous character, paying tribute to the Black Panther star’s legacy.

In an interview with Empire magazine this week, Miller added her voice to the chorus of many others, with an example of Boseman’s generous nature and moral code that occured during the filming of action movie 21 Bridges.

Miller recalled that Boseman, who was an executive producer on the film, was a fan of her work and was determined to bring her on as his co-star, despite her apprehension at taking on another job. “It was at a time when I really didn’t want to work anymore. I’d been working non-stop and I was exhausted, but then I wanted to work with him,” Miller said.

“This was a pretty big budget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn’t get to. And because I was hesitant to go back to work and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, ‘I’ll do it if I’m compensated in the right way.’”

Because the studio would not reach Miller’s desired compensation, Boseman stepped forward and cut his own salary to boost Miller’s pay. “Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for,” Miller explained. “He said that that was what I deserved to be paid.”

According to Miller, this type of generosity is rare, if not unheard of, in Hollywood.  “That kind of thing just doesn’t happen. He said, ‘You’re getting paid what you deserve, and what you’re worth,'” she said. “It’s just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully. In the aftermath of this I’ve told other male actor friends of mine that story and they all go very very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while.

But there was no showiness, it was, ‘Of course I’ll get you to that number, because that’s what you should be paid.’” she added.

Following Boseman’s death last month, there has been an outpouring of tributes from the film industry, including a heartfelt written tribute from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, and a Black Panther mural erected in Disney’s Anaheim site.

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