Octavia Spencer thanks Jessica Chastain for equal pay

Spencer (left) and Chastain —AP

Actress Octavia Spencer recently thanked her friend and “The Help” costar Jessica Chastain for brokering a deal that got them paid multiple times their initial asking salary.

At a recent panel at the Sundance Film Festival, the Academy Award-winning Spencer recalled conversing with Chastain about getting paid less for acting: “I told her my story, and we talked numbers, and she was quiet … she said she had no idea that that was what it was like for women of color.”

Spencer continued, “I love that woman, because she’s actually walking the walk and talking the talk. She said, ‘Octavia, we’re gonna get you paid on this film. You and I are going to be tied together … we’re gonna make the same thing.’ Fast forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for.”

Spencer, choking up, clarified, “These are happy tears!”

They will be working together on an as yet-untitled holiday comedy.

Laurie Metcalf to guest in ‘Supergirl’

“Lady Bird” actress Laurie Metcalf will be making a guest appearance in the comic book-inspired series, “Supergirl.”

It’s an easy decision to make, since her daughter, 12-year-old Mae, is “obsessed with Supergirl, [and actress] Melissa Benoist,” Metcalf told Entertainment Tonight.

“It’s a great show… I weasled my way onto [it]—I pulled whatever strings that I could to get us up to Vancouver and hang out [on] the set with the cast,” she said.

Metcalf will play Mary McGowan, the mother of Supergirl’s pal, Winn (Jeremy Jordan), in a future episode.

Metcalf (left) and Benoist

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