Despite the huge success of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel is said to have refused to increase Carrie Coon’s salary for Endgame.
Although you may not have recognised her under all the digital makeup, Carrie Coon cut an imposing figure as the villainous Proxima Midnight in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. Brought to life with lavish helpings of motion capture, Proxima was the adopted daughter of the equally hulking Thanos, memorably played by Josh Brolin. Coon didn’t return for the following year’s sequel, Avengers: Endgame, however, and there’s a reason for that: a dispute over pay.
This is according to Carrie Coon’s husband, the actor and playwright Tracy Letts, who talked about Coon’s interactions with Marvel on The Big Picture podcast (thanks, Variety). According to Letts, Marvel approached Coon to reprise her role for Endgame, and the actor, pointing to Infinity War’s $2bn global take, asked whether she could expect some kind of payrise.
“She said, ‘first one is the most successful movie ever made. Are you going to pay me any more money?’,” Letts recalled.
Marvel’s response was, as you’ve probably gathered, “No. We’re not going to pay you any more money.”
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When Coon said she wasn’t going to return without a pay increase, Marvel said – again, according to Letts – “Well, you should feel yourself fortunate to be part of the Marvel Universe.”
“We would’ve made a bigger deal out of this,” Letts added, “but it would have involved us watching the movies and we weren’t going to do that.”
An award-winning theatre and screen actor, Carrie Coon has worked with such filmmakers as David Fincher (Gone Girl), Steven Spielberg (The Post) and Steve McQueen (Widows). On TV, she’s received acclaim for her work in The Leftovers, Fargo and The White Lotus – the third season of which is currently airing. It’s fair to say she’s doing pretty well for herself.
