Olivia Colman has criticised gender pay disparity in the film industry and said she would be paid more if she was a man, arguing that it is rooted in an outdated idea that male actors draw in the audience.

Speaking about her latest movie, Wicked Little Letters, the Oscar-winning actor said that gender limits her earning potential. “Research suggests that [women have] always been big box office draws,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour programme.

“Don’t get me started on the pay disparity but male actors get paid more because they used to say they draw in the audiences and actually, that hasn’t been true for decades. But they still like to use that as a reason to not pay women as much.

“I’m very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I’d be earning a fuck of a lot more than I am,” Colman added. “I know of one pay disparity which is a 12,000% difference. Do the maths.”

She did not confirm the production to which this disparity relates.

It is not the first time Colman has pointed out a gender disparity when promoting Wicked Little Letters.

Speaking to the Radio Times last month, Colman pointed out that there’s still a gendered double standard when it comes to obscenities.

“If a woman swears, people act shocked. Fuck off! Women are human – funny, filthy, loving, caring – just like men.”

Wicked Little Letters tells the true story of the Littlehampton poison-pen scandal of 1923, with Colman playing the role of the prim-and-proper Edith Swan.

It is the latest cinematic outing for the actor who is also known for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown and The Favourite, where she stars as the 18th-century monarch Anne.

Colman won the best actress Oscar for her work in The Favourite. She received a second nomination for the same gong in 2022 for her role in The Lost Daughter alongside Wicked Little Letters co-star Jessie Buckley. Colman was also given an actress in a supporting role nomination for The Father in 2021.

This month, Forbes named Adam Sandler as the highest paid actor of 2023 after he raked in $73m (£57.3m) after the success of his 2023 Netflix film Murder Mystery 2 and his standup comedy tour.

Margot Robbie was the second highest earner, achieving $59m after her starring role in the blockbuster Barbie film, which she also produced, but the only other woman to place in the top 10 was Jennifer Aniston, who was Sandler’s co-star in the comedy.