Actor Octavia Spencer has revealed NBA superstar Lebron James helped her receive equal pay for "Madam C J Walker".
James is serving as the executive producer on the limited series with his SpringHill Entertainment partner Maverick Carter.
The series is based on the book "On Her Own Ground" by A'Lelia Bundles, Walker's great-great-granddaughter, who will also serve as a consultant on the series.
''I have to say, when I was negotiating my deal for 'Madam C J Walker', LeBron James had to intervene. So we need all our male counterparts to be in the fight with us," Spencer told IndieWire.
The actor said it is important to be open and honest about pay in order to address the current imbalance between male and female actors.
''I think my goal is to make sure that all women of colour get equal pay, and all women get equal pay. The only way to do it is to have these conversations, to talk numbers with your co-stars.''
Walker, the daughter of slaves, was orphaned at age seven, married at 14, and widowed at 20. She spent two decades labouring as a washerwoman, earning USD 1.50 a week. However, everything changed following Walker's discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women. By the time she died in 1919, she had built a beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women.
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