Not unlike Dolly Parton, Paul Newman is one of those American celebrities that seems to have always been the goddamn bees knees. There are numerous stories Susan Sarandon was on BBC 5 promoting a new project she is in and relayed a story from about 20 years ago when she starred in a film with Paul Newman and Gene Hackman.
In an interview to mark the release of her new project, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, Sarandon told 5 live: "Emma Stone once came forward and said she got equal pay, because her male stars insisted upon it and gave up something of theirs.
"That happened to me with Paul Newman at one point, when I did a film with him ages ago."
She continued: "They said it was 'favoured nations', but they only meant the two guys.
"He stepped forward and said, 'Well I'll give you part of mine'. So, yeah, he was a gem."
According to the story, “favored nations” is when a deal is struck that equal billing means equal salary. Sarandon had the billing but not the salary. It’s a nice reminder of how good a man Paul Newman was.