Richard Linklater replies to Julie Delpy's 'pay inequality' comments

Filmmaker Richard Linklater has responded to actor Julie Delpy's recent statement where she revealed that she was not paid at par with co-star Ethan Hawke for the first two films in the critically-acclaimed "Before" trilogy.

In a statement, obtained by IndieWire, the filmmaker acknowledged that "gender pay inequality" is an important issue plaguing the society but asserted that his "Before" trilogy should not be taken as an example of this.

"First off, these films we've been so lucky to even get made fall squarely in the indie/low-budget/labour-of-love category. The first two were budgeted at 2.7 million, nobody was getting paid much at all," he said.

The "Before" trilogy started with 1995's "Before Sunrise", featuring Delpy and Ethan Hawke as two strangers Celine and Jesse, who decide to spend some time with each other in the Austrian city of Vienna.

The movie was followed by sequels -- "Before Sunset" (2004) and "Before Midnight" (2013), which were equally lauded by the critics for the story and performances of the two leads.

Linklater admitted that Hawke was paid a "little more" than Delpy but justified his higher salary by saying that Hawke was already a Hollywood star in the 90s while Delpy "was just getting established in the US."