Octavia Spencer; Jessica Chastain (Credit: AP/Jordan Strauss) The fight to close the pay gap in Hollywood is not just about ensuring women actors get compensated equally to their male co-stars but that women of color get compensated equally to their white women co-stars. It’s something actor Jessica Chastain was unaware of but responded to proactively after friend and colleague Octavia Spencer explained the disparity. “I have a story, and you guys are gonna be the first to hear it,” Spencer told a panel on Women Breaking Barriers at the Sundance Film Festival.