Garcelle Beauvais has had a long, successful career in Hollywood and she knows what she should be getting paid at this point. Convincing other people of her worth, however, is still a struggle.
The actress and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” newcomer got candid about wage equity in a new interview with the Variety “After-Show” and revealed that she only recently started feeling confident enough to ask for equal pay.
“It’s all about being treated equally. I want to be promoted the same way. I want to be compensated the same way," she said.
The 53-year-old feels grateful to have had a career for over 20 years in entertainment, but she's also at a point in her life where she's tired of accepting lowball job offers.
"I do feel that so many times, my white counterparts get paid 1000% more than I do. I know it for sure, and it really sucks. We’re not valued as we should be. I just feel like it’s been happening for a long time, and now I’m not putting up with it," she said.
The Haitian-American actress is best known for her role as Francesca "Fancy" Monroe on "The Jamie Foxx Show" in the late '90s and she's accomplished a lot over the past few decades. But these days, Beauvais is a lot more selective of the job offers she accepts.
"You don’t see my value? You don’t get to have me in your project. Simple as that,” she explained.
When asked if she earns the same as Sutton Stracke, another "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" newcomer, Beauvais had a witty response.
“That’s awesome. I don’t know,” she said. “But Sutton doesn’t need the money, that’s the thing!”
The TV personality also reiterated her equal pay message in an Instagram graphic on Wednesday that read "Know your worth. Never settle for less than you deserve."
In addition to talking about wage equity and her new reality TV role, Beauvais also touched upon the Black Lives Matter movement and admitted that she's had many talks with her three sons on how to behave around police officers. When she was recently pulled over for making an illegal right turn, Beauvais had her 12-year-old son Jax in the car with her.
“I’m so grateful that he was in the backseat because he got to see my interaction. He got to see that my hands were at the wheel. He actually heard me say, ‘I’m reaching for my wallet,’” she said.
Beauvais said she hopes the renewed conversations about race in the U.S. will create positive changes and bring more awareness to racial relations.
“The fact that I have to say, ‘I’m reaching for my wallet now’ — if I was with a white girlfriend and she was driving, she wouldn’t think to do that,” she said.