Hollywood Pay Gap Persists Even As 'Me Too' Movement Leads To Positive Industry Changes

HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA) — Even as the "Me Too" movement has led to positive changes in the way Hollywood works, the pay gap between genders persists, even among the industry's biggest stars.

A new study by the University of Wisconsin looked at almost 250 male and female actors featured in over a thousand films from 1980 to 2015 and found, on average, men made $1.1 million more than women with similar experience. The study accounted for variables like past box office success, awards and social media popularity.

The study cites the Vanity Fair report on three of the stars of the film "American Hustle" – Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Adams. The report had found each worked on the film for similar amounts of time, but Bale and Cooper were paid $2.5 million each, along with 9 percent of the profits, compared to Adams receiving $1.25 million and 7 percent of the profits.

Woman also lag when it comes to the highest paid actor lists. Forbes says Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is the highest paid actor in Hollywood after making $89 million this year, while Scarlett Johansson -- the highest paid actress – makes a little over half his salary at $56 million.