There are plenty of good and bad things about being a movie star, and the paychecks are definitely one of the biggest benefits.
Keanu Reeves is one of the few Hollywood actors that has made more than $100 million from a single role. For his portrayal of Neo in the Matrix franchise, Keanu was initially contracted on a $10 million base salary, but the movies turned out to be such a success, he ended up earning over $200 million in total.
However, not every actor is a blockbuster action hero who saves humanity from a sentient AI, and the majority of actors are regular everyday people who work for a living. Let’s find out how much do actors make and exactly how do they get paid.
How Do Actors Make Money?
Unlike most traditional jobs, which provide a stable and predictable salary, actors have to hustle hard and create multiple sources of income, especially when starting out. Considering that even experienced and established actors have several revenue streams, the best way to illustrate how actors earn their paychecks is to split actor earnings into multiple categories.
Money From Acting
Of course, the primary source of income is the money they get from doing their job, acting. Depending on the gig and the contract, the actor salary can be arranged at an hourly rate, daily rate, and when they make a name for themselves, they can start charging a quote.
Estimating how much do actors make per hour can be quite tricky as actors can be hired for a role in a movie or a series, but their talents can also be utilized for shooting a commercial, in the theater, doing a voice-over, etc.
What doesn’t help is that three of the most popular compensation comparison websites online show completely different numbers, making it hard to pinpoint exactly what the average rate is.
For example, Zip Recruiter shows the average hourly rate for actors nationwide is only $13. On the other hand, the median actor salary in the US is significantly higher at $29 per hour, according to Salary.com. Finally, PayScale goes into more detail and provides six different averages for different types of gigs:
- Actor/Actress – $28.45
- Voiceover Talent – $30.52
- Broadway Actor/Actress – $20.40
- TV Commercial Actor/Actress – $20.35
- Stage/Theater Actor/Actress – $20.00
- Movie/Film Actor/Actress – $56.00
Overall, unless they are hired to act in a movie, the average actor can definitely do better financially.
Money From Residuals
In addition to the arranged quote or hourly/daily rate, some actors make extra income from residuals or royalties. Of course, only actors who appeared in a successful movie, series, or even a TV commercial that gets re-aired or re-released are privileged to such income streams.
Inexperienced actors who struggle to find a role in a Hollywood movie can only dream of residual payments, particularly nowadays, in the streaming service era, where residuals are becoming rare, and essentially non-existent for smaller roles.
On the other hand, royalties make for a great portion of the average actor salary in Hollywood. Here are some examples that can demonstrate just how much the stars of popular series make in residuals:
- Each of the six Friends, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Lisa Kudrow, still makes $20 million every year from their mega-popular show.
- Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David make a whopping $400 million per each syndication cycle of Seinfeld.
- The cast of Will & Grace, Sean Hayes, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, and Megan Mullaly, make $250,000 per episode for the latest re-air of the show.
- Ray Romano can earn up to $18 million per year, for reruns of his show Everybody Loves Raymond.
See what we mean? Residuals are a huge component of popular actors’ income, but as the old Hollywood saying goes: “It’s great money, when you can get it.”
Actors who were not the leads of a cult 90s show may still receive the odd check in the mail for $50 or $100 once or twice per year, for a small bit they played when starting out, but not nearly enough to live off of.
Money From Appearances and Events
When a TV show or movie begins to develop a cult following, it allows actors to capitalize on their roles beyond the TV screens. Thriving fan communities often demand interaction with the actors who bring their beloved characters to live, providing the actors with an opportunity to earn additional income, beyond their series regular salary.
Event appearances, live panels and signings, Comic-Con, and other fan-centered gatherings mean more money for the actors, and most of them gladly accept to connect with their fanbase.
Of course, the stars from mega-popular projects like Game of Thrones and the Marvel cinematic universe earn the most, but this revenue stream is not exclusive to Hollywood’s A-list projects. Many not-so-popular Sci-Fi shows and indie films often develop a cult following, allowing lesser-known actors to earn extra, but also become a fan favorite.
In terms of figures, the all-star cast ensemble of Marvel can easily earn over half a million dollars for attending Comic-Con, while former Doctor Who, and current House of the Dragon star Matt Smith, can make $250,000 from a weekend convention.
On the other hand, Firefly actress, Jewel Straite revealed that convention fees were enough to support herself during her pregnancy. Firefly is a show that never received the mass reception and popularity of a blockbuster TV series, but has a diehard fanbase that would gladly pay to interact with the people who created it.
In a recent interview, the actress also revealed that even guest stars on TV shows can earn up to $40,000 for a single weekend’s work. That’s close to the starting salary for actors we discussed earlier, and definitely worth it.
Side Jobs
Finally, it is not uncommon for actors struggling to find consistent acting roles to take on side jobs to supplement their income. They can be jobs related to their craft, such as teaching acting classes or providing voice-over work, or they can be entirely unrelated, like working in retail or hospitality.
Here are some examples of the world’s most successful and highest-earning actors/actresses that had to work a traditional job to support themselves until they made it into Hollywood:
- Both Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise worked as hotel bellhops before securing an actor salary in California.
- Amy Adams worked as a waitress at Hooters.
- Chris Rock waited tables at Red Lobster.
- Jennifer Aniston also worked as a waitress when starting out.
- Sandra Bullock used to be a bartender.
- Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kevin Costner were all Disney employees at one point in their lives.
To sum it all up, actors’ income streams encompass a diverse range of sources that evolve throughout their careers, which is why salaries in the acting world vary so significantly. Established Hollywood figures earn millions, while newcomers often face financial challenges.
It is both endearing and hopeful to know that even the most celebrated actors once balanced traditional jobs, demonstrating the journey and diversity that underpin their path to success.
Who Is the Highest Paid Actor?
Tom Cruise made more than $100 million from a single movie – Top Gun: Maverick, which was more than enough to establish him as one of the highest paid actors in history.
We say one of the highest paid, and not THE highest paid, because it is difficult to single someone out. The thing is, there are multiple ways to look at Hollywood actors’ earnings. While Tom Cruise made $100 million from a single movie, Keanu Reeves made $250 million from a single role in four movies of the Matrix franchise.
Moreover, Robert Downey Jr. made $435 million from all the movies that include his portrayal of Iron Man in the Marvel cinematic universe. So which one of these three do you believe is the highest paid?
How much does a Hollywood actor get paid?
As a base salary, most Hollywood superstars get deals where their base deals are between $10 million and $30 million. Now when the movie starts grossing incredibly, that’s when they reach the $100 million figures.
Some of the actors that get the highest base salaries include Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., and Leonardo DiCaprio. For example, Will Smith got a base salary of $40 million for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard, but he didn’t earn anything on top, because the film was a complete financial disaster.
Bruce Willis, on the other hand, only had $14 million base pay for his portrayal of Malcolm Crowe in The Sixth Sense, but ended up cashing in over $100 million because the movie turned out to be such a success. Oh, and by the way, Tom Cruise’s base salary for Top Gun: Maverick was only $12.5 million, so the base pay becomes almost obsolete at a certain point.
How much do actors make per movie?
Aside from A-list celebrities, character actors and newcomers make ten thousand times less money, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
For example, Brad Pitt made only $6,000 on his first big break role as J.D. in Thelma and Louise. Hilary Swank won numerous awards and nominations for her role as Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry, but only earned $3,000. Lastly, John Candy only earned $414 for his cameo in Home Alone, which grossed enormously.
In more recent times, actors are somewhat protected from getting underpaid through SAG-AFTRA contracts that regulate the minimum an actor will be compensated for their role. According to these regulations:
- Leads and supporting players must get a minimum of $65,000 per shoot.
- Performers must be paid at least $1,082 per day, or $3,756 per week, for shooting movies with a budget of over $2 million.
- Extras must be paid $187 per day, or an even bigger amount if the movie has special requirements for them.
- Stand-ins have to be paid a minimum of $219 per day.
That being said, it’s not like undervaluations don’t exist nowadays. For example, Gal Gadot was only paid $150,000 to be Wonder Woman, and Henry Cavill was paid $300,000 to be Superman, although they were the stars of their movies.
How much do actors get paid per episode?
Depending on the show’s popularity, and the actor’s level of fame and role prominence, actors are paid between $1,000 and more than a million dollars per episode.
SAG-AFTRA also has regulations for minimum payments of TV series actors, which impose:
- Regular stars be paid a minimum between $3,756 and $5,897 per week, depending on the episode’s runtime length, and the number of appearances during a season.
- Co-stars must be paid at least $1,082 per day.
- One-night guest stars have to be paid between $1,000 and $3,000 per day.
- Guest stars have to be paid between $5,952 for five days and $9,522 for eight days of work.
But as the show reaches wider audiences and characters become adored by the fan communities, actors can negotiate million-dollar deals. Notably, the adult stars of Game Thrones each made more than $1 million per episode, while child actors Sophie Turner and Maisey Williams earned $175,000 by the show’s season eight, even though they started out with less.
Interestingly, although it was a sitcom, Charlie Sheen earned $1.8 million for his portrayal of Charlie Harper in Two and a Half Men.
How much do actors get paid per episode on Netflix?
Outside of traditional TV networks, stars of Netflix shows earn significantly less money, or about $20,000 to $50,000 per episode.
How much do actors make for independent films?
The SAG rate for independent films with budgets under $2.5 million varies from $125 to $630 per day, or $1,166 per week.
Independent films can also be categorized by budget, and it is not the same to shoot a film with just over $2 million and under $50,000. Short films and student films are not regulated by SAG minimum rate contracts.
The Summary
In the glitzy world of Hollywood, we often imagine actors living in penthouses, cruising on yachts, and swimming in millions. But, just like in real life, things aren’t always as they seem. Sure, some actors make it big, but for most, it’s a hustle – balancing auditions, gigs, bills, and minimal actor’s salary just like the rest of us.
So, next time you hear “actor,” remember that the journey’s a mix of dreams and reality, reminding us that determination, grit, and a bit of luck go a long way in turning passion into a paycheck.
FAQs
Is being an actor a well paid job?
Actors’ earnings vary widely. Top-tier actors earn hundreds of millions, while others may struggle due to competition and inconsistent work opportunities.
Do actors get paid before or after filming?
Acting payment typically includes upfront fees negotiated before filming starts, though some actors also earn through residuals and promotional events and appearances, depending on the project’s popularity and fan reception.
How do actors get paid when not working?
Actors often take on side jobs, teach acting classes, participate in endorsements, or explore other income sources during gaps between acting projects.
How much do actors make in residuals?
While most actors earn nothing, or insignificant amounts of money, stars of the best tv shows earn millions to hundreds of millions in residuals.
How much do guest stars get paid?
According to SAG regulations, guest stars have to be paid a minimum daily rate of between $1,000 and $3,000 or up to $9,522 for multiple days of shooting.
How much do extras get paid?
Extras receive a minimum of $187 per day, or sometimes maybe more when the projects has special requirements for them, according to SAG regulations.
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