Marisa Tomei he claimed being the "heart of a film" means you'll be "underpaid".
Marisa Tomei feels like she's been underpaid for maternal roles
The 57-year-old actress - who plays May Parker, Peter Parker's aunt, in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' - has opened up on playing maternal characters in Hollywood, and insisted such roles are often thankless and pay less.
Marisa - who loved her role in the 'Spider-Man' franchise - said: "I’m talking about ‘the wife’, ‘the mum’. The real danger is when someone tells you you’re going to be the heart of the film. That means you’re going to be underpaid and not thanked."
The star then went on to claim that the same notion can be applied to politics, stating that "it's about the caretakers".
Speaking to the i newspaper, she added: "I feel like it translates the same way politically: it’s about the caretakers and the care economy."
She commented on the current state of Hollywood, after spending a lot of time fighting against sexism in the film industry.
She explained: “There are laws being changed now. Then there is the consciousness that has been raised… I cannot tell you what it has meant. I never thought I would see something like this in my life – never! I thought we would just continue to endure the big aggressions and the micro-aggressions.”
The Academy Award-winner then opened up about her grittier role in crime thriller 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead', in which she played a woman having an affair with her brother-in-law alongside Dustin Hoffman and Ethan Hawke.
She said: "I had always wanted to work with [director] Sidney Lumet. He had asked for me personally. Phil Hoffman and I, and Ethan Hawke, we all sort of came up at the same time in New York.
"We all had our own theatre companies. We were always influencing each other. It was particularly special to work with people you know so well as friends."
Marisa also explained that despite her sex scene with Dustin Hoffman being "super-weird", she felt "lucky" that she was friends with her fellow actor before they got on set.
She said: "That sex scene was a super-weird day. I was really glad it was with Mr Lumet. It just felt so awkward. It was lucky we [Hoffman and I] knew each other."
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