The new episodes of Quinta Brunson‘s Abbott Elementary will start airing on October 9 and will see the comeback of several stars including Tyler James Williams. But before the fourth season of ABC and Hulu’s hit comedy hits the screens, the six main cast members have secured a pay raise, with increases doubling and sometimes tripling their previous pay, according to Deadline.
Williams, who plays Gregory Eddie, is expected to earn $250,000 per episode. Now 31 with a reported net worth of over $5 million, Williams is best known for his role in the Chris-Rock-inspired sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, where he reportedly earned a salary of $250,000 per episode.
Also known for his role as songwriter Cyrus DeBarge in the Disney Channel movie Let It Shine, Williams became the youngest person to win an NAACP Image Award at age 14. Appearing in television commercials, Williams has also starred in several films and series like The Walking Dead, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, and Whiskey Cavalier.
His career reached new heights due to his Abbott Elementary role as Eddie, a first-grade teacher in an underfunded public school in Philadelphia, PA. And for this role, he worked closely with Brunson to create the character.
“I think from the minute we got on the phone about it, Gregory became a collaborative effort,” he told NPR. “We very quickly had a conversation about the importance of showing an active Black male struggling with and attempting to do a really good job in raising the next generation, because those are the men I grew up with, and those are the men that she grew up with.”
“I love that his story isn’t rooted in some sense of trauma or some massive conflict that is very specific to his race. … He’s a guy with a job who’s just trying to do a good job and who happens to be Black at a Black school with Black kids. I know that I’ve longed for stories that were rooted in an everyday conflict,” he added.
Thanks to Abbott Elementary, Williams won Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series at the Golden Globe Awards in 2023. Also, he won the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series as well as the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series that year at the 54th NAACP Image Awards.
As Williams is set to receive a substantial pay raise, here’s how much his fellow actors on the show will also earn:
Quinta Brunson — $350,000-$400,000 per episode
Sheryl Lee Ralph — $250,000 per episode
Janelle James — $200,000 per episode
Lisa Ann Walter — $200,000 per episode
Chris Perfetti — $200,000 per episode
William Stanford Davis — $100,000 per episode
